Recompense
by n00btmntfan
Summary: Marinette's life has become complicated enough as she tries to stop supervillains, so when a run-of-the-mill villain shoots her father, she begins to wonder if Ladybug isn't doing enough to help Paris. A new supervillain on the scene wonders the same thing and begins seeking justice for everyday crime. Meanwhile, Adrien has lost his ring. Rated T for violence and some scariness.
1. Arachnide

_Disclaimer: "Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir" and all derivative works are the intellectual property of Thomas Astruc, Zagtoons, Disney, Nickelodeon, and a lot of other people. n00btmntfan is not associated in any way with the makers of "Miraculous." This story is nothing but a fan-based expansion and commentary on the source material and should not be understood as anything beyond that._

 **Author's Note: So, I just discovered this show and I loved it. I have watched all 26 episodes of the show and this story takes place after all of them. Contains spoilers for "Jackady" ("Simon Says") and "Volpina" in particular. Having watched both the French episodes with English subs and the English dubbed episodes that have been released, my version of their styles of speech is probably going to be somewhere between the two. Despite the fact that my story is written in English, it is to be understood that they are all speaking French. I actually like "Papillon" better than "Hawk Moth," but since "Butterfly" just sounds unbearably silly in English, I'm going with "Hawk Moth." I'll be omitting a lot of the accents on names (like Mylene and Chloe) because it's easier that way. (Hopefully you'll come to forgive me for that.) Now that all of that's out of the way, on to the story!**

Marinette drifted along the boundary of sleep and waking, caught somewhere between a dream and reality. Her alarm was going off, and a soft, squeaky voice said her name. Yet she was Ladybug, sitting at school and failing a chemistry exam. Chloe sat behind her, snuggling with Adrien, who grinned widely.

"So, Ladybug," Cat Noir said, leaning over the desk. "You don't need this. I'm all the chemistry you'll ever need!" He snatched away the exam paper and started singing along with the alarm that kept going off in the background.

Marinette tried to grab the paper. "Cut it out, Cat Noir! I have to pass this exam or Adrien and Chloe will get married!"

Cat Noir stopped singing. "So? Why would you want Adrien when you could have me?"

"Ugh. Why would I want you?"

"For starters, I want you and Adrien doesn't. Adrien will _never_ love you, Marinette."

"You know my name?"

"Of course I do." Cat Noir reached out and tugged on Marinette's hair. "Marinette. Marineeette."

"Stop it!"

"Marineeette…"

"Leave me alone!"

"MARINETTE!"

With a scream, Marinette jolted into full consciousness.

"There she is," squeaked Tikki, pulling playfully on Marinette's hair. "I thought you'd never wake up."

"Ugghhh." Marinette turned off the alarm on her phone. "I had the weirdest dream."

Tikki giggled. "So I heard. But don't worry. Failing the exam will probably not make Adrien marry Chloe."

"You…heard?"

"Oh, yes. You were talking in your sleep. Tell me, what was Cat Noir doing?"

Marinette stretched. "What else? Flirting with me and messing things up."

"Don't you think that's a little harsh, Marinette? Cat Noir has helped you many times."

"Yeah, but I can't even keep count of how many times I've had to save his sorry tail."

Yawning deeply, Marinette got out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom for her shower. She took off her pajamas and brushed the knots out of her hair while she waited for the water to heat up, softly singing the words to her favorite Jagged Stone song. When she stuck her hand into the stream of water, she gasped when she found that it was frigid. She tossed on a bathrobe and shouted down the stairs.

"Mom! Dad! There's no hot water!"

Her mom came up the stairs, a distraught expression on her face. "I know, honey. The water heater broke this morning. We've called somebody already, but they can't be here until this afternoon."

"What am I going to do for a shower, though? I can't skip washing my hair today—it's all greasy."

"Just use the dry shampoo and some perfume like everyone else, Marinette. You can wait until later."

Marinette thought of Adrien, who seemed to be taking a shower every time that she had dropped by his place as Ladybug. If she ran into him today, with all of the buildup from an extra day's worth of dry shampoo and smelling extra strongly of perfume, he would certainly not be impressed. "Mom…I _have_ to shower today."

"If you're that desperate, you'll have to take a cold shower, then. I'm sorry."

With a groan, Marinette went back into the bathroom. "Not exactly a promising start to the day."

One freezing shower later, a shivering Marinette came down the stairs, dressed for school. With all of her books in her bag and Tikki securely in her purse, she grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl that sat on the counter.

"Not going to sit down to eat?" her father asked.

"No, Dad. I need to get to school early today to make sure that I'm ready for the big chemistry test. Alya has some notes on redox reactions that I need to go over."

Her father frowned. "Why don't you look over your own notes from the class?"

The image of a fluttering black Akuma flashed through Marinette's mind. Fortunately, it was a small job, as Hawk Moth had picked a pretty poor candidate. She and Cat Noir had wrapped the whole thing up in minutes. However, it was still enough to make her miss the first twenty minutes of class. "Erm…I lost mine."

"Hmm. All right then. Good luck, honey."

"You too! With the water heater, I mean."

"Oh, that's nothing. The mechanic will be here before you get home, and then you can take a nice hot shower."

"I can't shower twice in the same day! That will fry my hair!"

Her dad rolled his eyes. "You women and your beauty routines. I will never understand."

Marinette giggled. "Just kidding." She stood on her tiptoes to give him a peck on the cheek. "Bye, Dad." Adjusting her bag, she headed out the door for school.

* * *

Marinette had finished eating her banana by the time she arrived at school. She tossed the peel into the nearest trash can before heading up the steps that led to the front door. Alya leaned against the door, fiddling around on her phone.

"Hi, Alya!" Marinette called.

Alya looked up. "Hey, girl!" She stuck her phone in her pocket and opened her bag. "I've got those chem notes you asked for."

"You're a lifesaver. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Lose your head, probably." Alya giggled and handed the notes to Marinette. "You've got about ten minutes to look over those before classes start, though you might be able to get away with reading them in Ms. Bustier's classroom if you're careful."

Marinette swooped her eyes over Alya's untidy handwriting. "Thanks, I—"

Adrien's voice came from behind them. "I'm telling you, Nino, I was sick that day. Can't I borrow yours?"

Marinette whirled around to see Adrien and Nino coming up the steps. Her stomach tossed and her knees felt weak. Ugh, why was it that seeing Adrien did this to her _every time_?

"Uh, well…" Nino scratched the back of his neck. "Tell you the truth, dude, I didn't take notes. My notebook is just full of doodles. Oh, hey, Alya!"

Alya grinned. "Hey, Nino," she said playfully. She walked over and gave Nino a hug. "You ready for the big test today?"

Nino shrugged. "Not too worried about it."

"Well, I am," Adrien said, folding his arms. "Alya, I don't suppose you have notes from the day we covered redox, do you?"

"I do," Alya said, "but Marinette's got them right now."

Marinette's heart nearly stopped when she realized that Adrien was looking at her. Those green eyes were looking at _her…_

"I don't suppose I could borrow those when you're done, could I?" Adrien asked, with a winning smile.

"C-can course of you," Marinette stammered. "Er…I mean, of course you can. No problem."

"Great," Adrien said. "There's a ten minute break right before chemistry class. Can I borrow them then?"

Marinette froze and just grinned stupidly.

Adrien blinked and shifted uncomfortably in response.

"Sure, Adrien," Alya said. "I'll make sure she remembers. See you in class, guys."

"See ya," Nino said.

"See you, Alya," Adrien said. "See you, Marinette."

Marinette uttered an unintelligible syllable as Nino and Adrien walked away. Once they were out of earshot, she groaned. "Oh, Alya…"

Alya laughed. "Girl, you seriously need to get a grip. He's just a guy. If you treat him like that, and think of him like that, I'm sure talking to him will get much easier. And you'll probably creep him out a lot less."

"What? Oh, no! Do you think I creeped him out?"

"A little bit. But don't worry—I'm sure you can make it up. Just play it cool when you hand off the notes, okay?"

"Right. Play it cool."

"Speaking of notes, you should probably look over those."

"Look over what?"

"The notes! Look over the notes!"

A scream echoed through the entry hall, making Marinette and Alya jump. Genevieve, one of the girls in the class below them, hopped up and down, screaming, "Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!" Her bag lay in a heap on the ground next to her, where a couple of plastic knitting needles and some yarn had spilled out.

Marinette ran over to Genevieve's side. "What is it?"

Practically white, Genevieve pointed a shaking finger at the big hairy spider that scuttled away under the bench in front of the lockers.

"Come on, Genevieve, it's just a spider," Alya said. "Nothing to be afraid of."

Marinette grimaced. "A really big spider…yech."

"Don't tell me _you're_ afraid of spiders, Marinette."

Marinette bit her lip. "As a rule, no…not if they're outside, doing spidery things…you know, _away_ from me. But if they're _inside…"_ She shuddered as she stooped over to pick up Genevieve's knitting bag for her.

Alya laughed. "Seriously. Only a few spiders are dangerous. There's no reason to be scared."

"Thanks, Marinette," Genevieve said, as Marinette handed the knitting bag back to her. She slung the cross-body strap over her shoulder. "They're just so icky."

Chloe walked up to the lockers with Sabrina in tow. "What are you losers all talking about?"

"I—I just saw a spider the size of a dinner plate," Genevieve said. "It's under the bench, and I—"

Chloe screamed. "It's in your hair!"

Like a fuse had been lit, Genevieve exploded. She ran in circles, screaming and crying, frantically tearing at her hair.

Chloe doubled over laughing, clinging to Sabrina for support. "Oh my gosh—Sabrina, tell me you got a vid of this idiot dancing her idiot dance for us."

Grinning, Sabrina held up her phone. "Of course I did! I'm sharing it on the school's social network as we speak."

Genevieve's face turned red, and tears started to leak out of her eyes. "No, don't! I—"

"Aaaand…done!"

Lip quivering, Genevieve turned and ran to the girls' room.

"What is your problem, Chloe?" Alya said, putting her hands on her hips. "It's not enough that you treat everyone in our grade like a piece of trash, so you have to do it to the younger classes, too?"

"Pssh," Chloe hissed. She opened her locker and fussed with her hair in front of the small mirror inside. "Idiots are idiots, whatever the grade, know what I mean?" She put a finger over her lip. "Oh, wait. You would, since you _are_ one. Come on, Sabrina." She slammed her locker shut and walked away.

Marinette clenched her fists. "I can't believe her. It's not like she wouldn't react the same way if she thought a spider was in her hair."

Alya laughed. "That is a prank that totally needs to happen. And then we'll get a vid of _her_ running around and screaming, and see how she likes it."

"I should probably go see if Genevieve is okay."

"Girl, that's sweet and all, but don't you need to look over the notes for the test? I'll go check on her, okay?"

"Thanks, Alya."

"No prob. You just study the notes. Oh, and keep an eye out for Mr. Spider."

Marinette giggled. "If by 'keep an eye out' you mean 'squish it the instant I see it,' then I will."

With a wave, Alya turned and headed off to the girls' room. Marinette sat down on the bench and squinted at Alya's notebook. Her handwriting crept across the page in an untidy scrawl, and the margins of the book were filled with doodles of ladybugs.

"Okay," she muttered. "So when an electron gets added, the ion becomes negative…so reduction is adding an electron, and oxidization is taking one away, right? Ah, that seems so backwards…"

A series of screams exploded from the direction of the girls' room. One by one, they all grew silent, as if the voices' owners were being put out like lamps. Marinette tossed the notes aside and ran to the bathroom, hesitantly pushing open the door. Three or four cocoons the size of people were glued the floor with massive amounts of spider web. Alya stood in the corner by the sinks, huddling against the wall, staring up at the ceiling.

"Alya?"

Wide-eyed, Alya whipped her head around. "Marinette," she whispered. "Run."

A deep growl came from the ceiling, sending shivers down Marinette's spine. Slowly, she lifted her eyes to ceiling.

A massive spider, the size of a person, hung from one of the ceiling's crossbeams. Marinette froze. Each one of its eight eyes were like a domed mirror, and its two fangs dripped a green substance than fell to the floor and sizzled. Each one of its eight appendages prickled with brown hair, and all of them ended in brown hairy human-like hands. A knitting bag was strapped across its body, filled with white balls of yarn that looked suspiciously like the same substance that held people glued to the floor.

Marinette's stomach tossed. "Genevieve?"

"Genevieve is gone," the spider thing said, its voice a horrible grating sound. "I am Arachnid. And now everyone will be afraid of _me_!" Several hands moved faster than Marinette could see and wove together a net of webbing that went flying at Alya. Alya screamed before she disappeared under the mass of sticky white threads and went silent.

"Alya!" Marinette barely had time to dodge before the webbing came at her. The net of webs covered the door to the girls' room. Horrified, she froze and stared at the wall of webbing that stood where the door once was. Green acid seeped through the fabric of the webs and massive fangs tore it open. With a scream Marinette ran for the janitor's closet, dodging massive balls of spider web as she ran.

One by one, all the other students milling about the school saw Arachnid and started to scream. One scream rang out higher than the rest, one that Marinette would now recognize anywhere.

Chloe.

Arachnid stopped chasing Marinette and turned its attention toward Chloe, whose face had gone white with fear. "Who's afraid now, idiot?"

Chloe screamed "Daddy!" and ran.

Marinette ducked into the janitor's closet. "What a mess. The bell hasn't even _rung_ yet." She popped open her purse. "Tikki, we have to transform. Spots on!"


	2. Un Bague Absent

Adrien settled down in the front row of Ms. Bustier's classroom, opening up his bag and pulling out his books. For literature that day, they were supposed to have read the first five chapters of _Les Miserables,_ but Adrien had only managed to read the first one, due to helping Ladybug out with an Akumatized villain the night before.

"Can you believe how boring this book is?" Nino groaned, pulling out his copy of the text. "Super lame. I thought there was like, revolution and stuff."

Adrien laughed. "Yeah, Hugo can be a little dry. Last year, I had to read _The Hunchback of Notre Dame,_ and it started out about as excitingly."

"And you managed to finish that? Ugh. My mom tried to get me to read it once. Boring."

"I actually thought it was pretty—"

A series of screams echoed throughout the school. Nino jumped up and ran to the door to look out. "Whoa, dude! There's like—a giant spider thing after Chloe!"

"What?" Adrien leapt up from his seat and looked out. His stomach somersaulted at the sight of the massive spider—he did _not_ like spiders. No—forget that, he _hated_ spiders. And now some poor soul had been Akumatized into the world's most hideous spider-thing, and he and Ladybug were going to have to fight against it with all its horrible legs and eyes and those nasty fangs…

He shuddered. Normally, he leapt at the chance to fight—anything to escape the pressures of his regular life—but he suddenly wished that he was doing a fashion shoot on the other side of Paris. No. Forget Paris. The other side of the world.

But he knew that unless he acted, this thing was going to keep on terrorizing the school. It seemed like Ladybug wasn't on the scene yet, so he would have to protect the other kids until she showed up and could figure out where the Akuma was.

"I'm, uh, going to call the police," Adrien said, opening the door to the classroom and running out.

"Adrien! Wait!" Nino called.

Adrien ignored him and ran as fast as he could to the nearest rest room. He burst in, made sure that no one was there, and shouted, "Plagg! Claws out!"

Plagg crept out from under Adrien's jacket. "Oh, that's not good. You don't have your ring!"

"What?" Adrien held his hand in front of his face, staring at the empty place where the ring should have been. "But—that's not possible! I had it last night, after we got back!"

"Maybe it just slipped off while you were sleeping," Plagg said. "It's probably tangled up in your sheets."

"Well, if my ring is gone, why are you still here?"

"The only way I'd be gone is if you purposely took it off. Remember the freezer?"

"Yeah, I remember you didn't help me out any, too. How come you didn't tell me my ring was gone before we left the house?"

"I wasn't paying attention," Plagg said. "I was busy."

Adrien folded his arms. "You mean you were eating camembert."

"Isn't that what I just said?"

"Argh! Is Ladybug's Kwami this useless?"

"Useless?" Plagg folded his arms. "Hmph. See if I ever transform you again."

"I didn't mean—"

The screams that echoed through the halls were interrupted with cheers. "It's Ladybug!" somebody shouted.

Adrien cracked open the door and peeked out. Ladybug was down in the gym, whirling her yo-yo to fend off giant blobs of webbing that the huge spider thing flung at her.

"There, you see?" Plagg said. "Ladybug's got it. We can go home and find your ring, then we'll come back and help."

"If it's not too late by then," Adrien muttered. "Let's not waste any time." He held open his jacket so Plagg could hide again. Once Plagg was hidden, Adrien burst out of the rest room and made a break for the school exit.

It was total chaos. Students ran all over to place, trying to escape the flying blobs of web that the spider-thing was flinging everywhere.

"Adrien! Help me!"

Adrien glanced over his shoulder to see Chloe running toward him, away from the giant spider. He ran back to her, grabbed her by the wrist, and practically dragged her toward the school exit.

"Why do these things always come after me?" Chloe whined.

Adrien rolled his eyes. "I think I have an idea."

"Oh, because they're all jealous of me, right?"

"Sure, Chloe. That's definitely it."

They were almost to the exit when a massive net of webbing flew through the air and sealed off the doorway. Adrien skidded to a halt, but Chloe tripped and fell forward, slamming right into the web. She struggled to pull away from it.

"I'm stuck!" she screamed, her voice muffled. "Adrien, help me!"

Adrien went to grab one of her hands, but both of them were pressed into the sticky spider web. So he grabbed her at the waist and started to pull.

"Ow-w-w! You're hurting me!"

"Sorry, Chloe, I just—"

A shadow suddenly covered both of them and a warm gust of foul-smelling breath swept over them. "Chloe," said the spider thing, "who's the idiot now?"

"Ugh! Adrien is! He can't even get me out of this!"

From anyone else, the words might have stung, but Adrien knew Chloe too well to be offended by anything that she said, least of all under pressure. Slowly, Adrien looked over his shoulder and almost threw up when he saw that the massive spider was inches away from them. Bright green venom dripped from its fangs and fell, sizzling, to the floor.

"Get out of the way, Adrien," the spider said. "I don't want to hurt you."

Adrien let go of Chloe's waist and turned around, wishing with all his heart that he had his staff so that he could drive this hideous thing back. "I'm not just going to stand aside and let you hurt Chloe."

The spider's arms moved in a blur, weaving together a net. Adrien cringed as he realized what was about to happen to him. There was no way he was going to get home to find his ring now.

A yo-yo sailed through the air and struck the spider on the head. "Get away from them, Arachnid," Ladybug shouted. "I'm not going to let you hurt any more people."

Arachnid turned around. "Give me your Miraculous, and maybe I won't."

Ladybug narrowed her eyes. "Come and get it." She performed a series of flips away from Arachnid, who scuttled after her.

 _She's so awesome_ , Adrien thought, his heart skipping a beat. Motion caught his eye. A single strand of webbing fluttered down through the air and landed in one of the puddles of venom, where it dissolved. "The venom dissolves the webs."

"Well then hurry up and get me out of here!" Chloe screamed.

 _Better yet, you stay out of the way and Ladybug will get you out of this with Miraculous Ladybug,_ Adrien thought. He looked around for a stick or anything he could coat in venom to slice an opening in the web, so that he could get through and get home to find his ring. He turned around back toward the gym to see Ladybug wrap her yo-yo around the basketball hoop and swing through the air. A net of webbing went flying.

It caught her mid-swing. She plummeted to the ground, nothing but her head exposed. She grunted and struggled against the web. "Cat Noir, I could use a little help right about now!" she shouted.

"No matter," said Arachnid. "Your bitty kitty friend will show up eventually. But it will be too late for you." Arachnid opened its venom-dripping maw, poising to pierce its horrible fangs straight into Ladybug.

"Where _are_ you, Cat Noir?"

Adrien's heart plummeted into his stomach. He burst into a fevered run and interposed for Ladybug just as the hideous fangs came down. One of them missed him, but the other pierced down through his right shoulder. With a strangled scream, Arachnid stumbled back. As it did, the fang broke off inside of Adrien's body and he fell to his knees.

"Adrien! No!" Ladybug screamed.

Searing pain shot through Adrien's chest, but then he felt nothing at all as numbness followed after it. Sweat poured from his temples. His right arm was already paralyzed. He reached up with his left arm, grabbed hold of the fang, and ripped it out of his body. Blood started to gush from the wound. The fang, coated in blood, continued to drip green venom.

"Hold on, Ladybug," Adrien rasped. He took the fang and used it to slice through the webbing that engulfed her. The acid cut through the webs instantly, and in a moment, she was able to move despite the clumps of web still clinging to her.

"Adrien!" Ladybug cried. "Oh, Adrien…"

"Go on! Stop that thing!" With a groan, Adrien fell the rest of the way to the ground and started to convulse.

Everything went black.

* * *

What could have been instants or years later, Adrien opened his eyes and sat up from the floor. The pain in his chest was gone, and his arm could move again. Dazed, he looked around the gym. Students cheered. There were no webs anywhere.

A gentle hand touched his shoulder. Adrien slowly turned his head to see Ladybug kneeling next to him.

"Adrien…I can't ever thank you enough." She smiled at him, and his stomach flipped.

"Well…you've saved me so many times…and that mangy Cat Noir hadn't shown up, so…"

"Adrikins!" Chloe physically pushed Ladybug out of the way and threw her arms around Adrien. "Oh, Adrikins, you're so brave!" She planted kiss after kiss on Adrien's cheek. "Saving Ladybug like that! And then you killed that hideous monster!"

Adrien pushed Chloe away from him. "Wait…I killed it?"

"When its fang broke off, it just sort of stumbled back and did nothing," Ladybug said, standing up and offering a hand to Adrien. "Like it didn't even know what to do. It was easy enough for me to get the knitting bag and get at the Akuma after that."

Adrien took her hand and she pulled him up off the floor. Once again, Chloe threw her arms around him. He dodged her as she went in to plant another kiss on him. "A little space, Chloe?"

Chloe pouted. "Fine." She stood back and folded her arms.

"Anyway," Ladybug said, looking down at the floor and blushing, "thanks for saving my life, Adrien. I'll, uh…let you get back to your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend," Adrien said hastily. "We've just been friends for a really long time, right, Chloe?"

"Hmph." Chloe turned and stomped away.

"Oh. The way she was kissing you, I thought that maybe…"

"Nope. Just friends."

"Good." Ladybug's blush deepened. "I mean, uh, it's good to have friends." Her earring beeped. "Oh. I, uh, have to go."

Before Adrien could say anything else, Ladybug ran from the school. He followed after her, but by the time he'd reached the door, she was gone.

Marinette walked around the corner. When she saw Adrien, she jumped. "A-Adrien! H-h-hi. Think they'll cancel the, uh, chemistry test because of this?"

"We can only hope," Adrien said, grinning. "Hey, did you see Ladybug?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah—she went that way. She seemed like she was in a really big hurry."

Adrien sighed. Of course she had to get away, to keep her identity a secret. If she wouldn't tell Cat Noir who she was, why would she tell anyone who wasn't a superhero? "So, what are you doing out here?"

"Huh? Oh…she—I mean I—I mean…I had to get some fresh air after all that ruckus. I really don't much like spiders."

"Me either. They're horrible."

Marinette just grinned and stared at Adrien.

Adrien cringed inwardly. He was used to girls acting this way around him, but he had hoped since that he and Marinette were friends, she would be a little more cool about it, and see him for the person he was instead of the famous model that everybody else saw, like Nino did. Heck, even Ladybug seemed to act weird around him…

His heart skipped. Did that mean that _Ladybug_ liked him? She was all cool and confidence around Cat Noir, but around Adrien, she seemed to get nervous the way a lot of other women did. A sinking feeling went through him. Did that mean that Ladybug only saw him for the famous model, too? She barely knew him outside of that and the few times they had interacted.

Maybe nobody would ever see Adrien Agreste for who he really was. The model was all the world saw him as. Sometimes he wondered if his own father saw him as anything beyond that.

"Well, I'll see you later, Marinette. Here's to hoping there's no exam today."

 _And here's to hoping that I can find my Miraculous once I get home again,_ he thought, as he turned around and walked back inside. He jumped when he saw that Chloe stood right behind him.

"Hey, _best friend_ ," Chloe said. "If they cancel school today, you want to go get some ice cream?" She grabbed him by the arm.

Adrien rolled his eyes. "No thanks. I think I just want to go home."


	3. Menace D'une Arme

Sabine walked into the bakery's front, holding the business phone in her hand. "Tom, we just got an order for fifteen baguettes. They want to pick them up at four."

Tom held up a finger, then pointed at the cell phone he held next to his ear. "Okay, honey, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. They were talking about the school on the radio again…Oh, so are they cancelling school for the rest of the day?" There was a long pause "Mm. Let me ask your mother." Tom covered the microphone with his hand and looked up and Sabine. "It's Marinette. She said that Ladybug had to come stop a giant spider at school, and that everyone was so rattled that the principal decided to cancel the rest of the day."

Sabine bit her lip. "Is she okay?"

"Oh, yes. Everyone is fine. The teachers just thought that so much excitement would make the learning environment stressful. Anyway, Marinette wants to know if it's okay if she goes over to Alya's."

"On another day, perhaps yes. But Tom, we have four cakes to decorate _and_ all those baguettes. You know how good Marinette is with the cakes…"

Tom uncovered the microphone. "No, honey, not today. We need your help at the bakery. It doesn't matter what we would do if you still had school, you don't, and we need your help! Alya can come here if she wants…no, we're not going to put her to work too. Yes, we'll pay you. Just come home and help out, please. It's cake decorating, if that helps at all. But you're so good with the cakes! Just be home, all right?" Tom hit 'end' on his cell phone and gave an exasperated groan. "Teenagers."

"She'll get over it," Sabine said. "Once she gets into decorating the cakes, she'll be happier. The fashion designer comes out in her."

Tom grinned. "Our little fashionista, and she owes it all to her humble beginnings of decorating cakes."

"Well, I'm going to head back into the kitchen to get everything measured out for those baguettes, so that all we have to do is proof the yeast at the right time."

"Okay, darling. Would you please peek at the cakes in the oven? I need to reorganize the pastry case."

Sabine nodded and kissed Tom on the cheek before walking into the kitchen. She set the phone down on its cradle and hummed to herself as she peered into the oven. The cakes were doming up beautifully.

 _Perfect, as usual, my dearest Tom,_ she thought. She loved her husband more than anything in the world, and even after twenty years of marriage, she still never ceased to be amazed by how talented he was at his job. There was nothing that he could not get flour to do for him, almost as if he was a great horse trainer whose whispers encouraged even the wildest horses to be still and calm. He was truly a magician.

She smiled at the thought as she went to measure out flour for the baguettes. She chuckled to herself. She hardly knew why she bothered measuring, since Tom would always use less or more than the amount based on the day's humidity. But he claimed that it helped him, so she did. Fleetingly, she wondered if he only did things like this to make her feel useful.

The door to the bakery chimed as someone walked in.

"Good morning, sir," Tom said cheerfully. "How may I help you?"

"Your money. All of it."

Sabine's whole body went cold. Silently, she stole up to the kitchen door and peeked around the corner. A masked man held a gun pointed straight at Tom's heart. She had heard about a string of holdups in the area. Usually, there were no casualties, as long as the shop owners cooperated with the criminal. Her heart sank as she heard Tom open the cash register.

"You think I'm interested in just your cash drawer? Where's your safe?"

Sabine grabbed the phone from its cradle and started to dial. Even if she could not prevent their money from being taken, she could at least give the police a jump start on bringing this lowlife to justice.

"Police?" she whispered. "My place of business is being held up by a thief. I think he's the same one who—" Her fingers, slippery from flour, lost their grip on the phone. She caught it as it slipped, but accidentally tapped a button as it fell.

It was the speaker button.

"What is your address, Madame?" the dispatcher asked, his voice ringing out loudly through the kitchen.

"Who's in the kitchen?" shouted the criminal.

Sabine took a few stumbling steps backward as she heard the man come toward the kitchen. As soon as she saw him, she froze. He stomped on the phone, crushing it beneath his feet. He walked toward her. "That was a mistake." He raised his gun.

Tom burst in and tried to grab it away.

Too afraid to scream or move, Sabine stood frozen while she watched her husband and the criminal wrestle for control of the gun.

The gun discharged.

The bullet flew straight into Tom's head. A shower of blood spattered the wall behind him.

Heartbeat by heartbeat, Sabine watched as her husband fell to the floor. The criminal immediately turned and ran out of store, the doors chiming as he left.

The merry chime seemed like nothing but a death knell.

* * *

Walking home, Marinette kicked a stray rock as hard as she could.

"But Marinette, you _like_ decorating cakes," Alya said.

Marinette groaned. "I do, but that's not the point! I'm only supposed to have to work in the bakery on weekends and holidays."

"Technically, since school is out, it is a holiday."

"Thanks for pointing that out."

"Come on, it'll be fun! I'll be there, right? We can still talk."

"Yeah, but with my parents listening?"

Alya laughed. "I've got to admit, it'd be nice to hear you talk about something other than Adrien for a change."

"You're one to talk. All you ever talk about is your LadyBlog."

"Well, Ladybug is tons more interesting than Adrien. I mean, yeah, Adrien's hot and all, but he doesn't go around saving the world all the time."

"Didn't you hear? Adrien _saved_ Ladybug's life today in the gym. Arachnid was about to kill Ladybug, and he jumped in the way and got bitten by that awful thing." Marinette's heart jumped at the memory. "He might not save the world all the time, but he saved Ladybug. He even got her out of the webs she was tied up in. And she wouldn't have been able to save everyone if it hadn't been for him."

"No way. Adrien did?"

"Yeah!" Marinette clasped her hands together next to her face. Was there anything _not_ to like about Adrien? He was kind, and noble, and brave, and _so totally delicious…_

"I can't believe I missed it! I was trapped in the bathroom the whole time. I guess I'll have to interview Adrien tomorrow for the LadyBlog."

"And now we're back to the LadyBlog."

"What? We were back to the topic of Adrien _before_ the topic of the LadyBlog."

Marinette giggled. "I guess we're a little one-note, huh?"

"Well, let's work on changing that," Alya said, nudging Marinette. "We can start by talking about cakes. I know you decorate some of them, but how long have you been doing it?"

"Oh, since I was ten. Papa showed me how to do it, and I sort of went from there. It's a lot like fashion design, with all of the little details. I'm still not as good as Papa—you should _see_ the things he can do with fondant."

As they rounded the corner, Marinette jumped when she saw half a dozen police cars and an ambulance in front of the bakery. Two paramedics were wheeling a gurney out of the bakery.

Her heart stopped when she saw who was on it.

" _Papa_!" she screamed. She dropped everything and ran toward them. "Papa, oh no…"

Her mom ran out of the bakery and threw her arms around Marinette. "They said he's still alive, but that they have to get him to the hospital immediately." Tears ran down her cheeks, and her face was completely white. She started to sob. "Oh, Marinette…"

Alya stood a few paces away, her mouth hanging open in horror.

"Madame Cheng, will you be riding in the ambulance? We don't have room for your daughter, too."

"We'll follow in a taxi," Sabine said, sniffing.

The paramedic nodded before hopping into the ambulance and driving away, sirens wailing.

"Actually, Madame Cheng," said one of the police officers, "we need to ask you some questions before you go."

* * *

Hours later, Marinette sat in the hospital waiting room. Her mom had put her arm around her, and Marinette leaned in and buried her face in her mom's shoulder. Alya sat on the other side of her, holding Marinette's hand tightly. The three of them sat in silence, except for the occasional sob that escaped Marinette or her mom.

Marinette did not even know what to feel. Grief? No, it was too soon to grieve—not as long as there was a chance that her father was still alive. She did not want to grieve, because that was admitting defeat. But if her father died…then the last thing she had said to him was a disrespectful, _Fine! I'll be there!_

Not _I love you, Papa._

The thought made her sick with guilt.

They had been sitting there for three hours by the time a doctor walked up to them.

"Madame Cheng?" the doctor asked.

Sabine looked up. "Yes?"

"My name is Dr. Boyer. I'm the supervising doctor for your husband's case."

"What can you tell me?"

Dr. Boyer frowned. "Well, your husband is still alive. The bullet didn't kill him. But…Madame, I'm afraid that he's in a coma. He will be in a vegetative state for the rest of his life. I'm sorry."

Marinette burst into tears. Her heart was torn into a million shreds. Her father was gone. He might as well be dead. She would never hear his voice again. They would never play Mecha Strike III together again.

"Oh, Marinette…" Alya whispered, squeezing Marinette's hand even tighter.

"Now," Dr. Boyer said, "since you have power of attorney, you get to choose whether or not to keep him on life support. Even then, you understand, we can only keep him on life support for so long—since the healthcare system only allows so much of that in hopeless cases."

"Is it truly hopeless?" Sabine said. "Miracles happen, don't they? I have read stories of people coming out of such comas…"

Miracles.

 _Miracles._

Marinette's sobbing redoubled. If she had been there as Ladybug, she could have not only stopped the criminal and delivered him to the police, she could have saved her father. Even if she couldn't have kept him from being shot, Miraculous Ladybug would have returned everything to normal. Was there even a way to use Miraculous Ladybug now? Or did it only work in cases when somebody had been Akumatized?

No. It was all too late. There was nothing she could do.

Her father was gone.

"It has happened in the past, yes. But it is very rare, Madame Cheng. You'll have a week or so before the coverage for keeping him on life support runs out."

"Is he suffering?"

The doctor sighed. "No. He's in a vegetative state. He feels nothing."

"I—I'm not ready to say goodbye," Sabine said.

"I understand completely." He handed a manila folder to Sabine. "You'll need to fill all of this out and give it to the nurse at the desk over there. Madame, I'm truly sorry for your loss."

As the doctor walked away, Alya finally broke down into tears. She clung to Marinette, and both of them bawled.

But Sabine sat as though lifeless. The papers fell to the floor and silent tears streamed from her eyes.

* * *

That night, well after midnight, Marinette and her mom finally arrived at home. Alya had had to go home hours ago, but she promised Marinette that she would call the next day. They had to sidestep the bakery, which was crawling with a police forensics team.

Marinette collapsed onto her bed and buried her face in her pillow. She was too wiped to even cry any more.

"I know what you're thinking, Marinette," Tikki said softly. "It's not your fault. Ladybug can't be everywhere at once. And you can't possibly hope to stop all the crime in Paris."

"I know," Marinette said. "I know. But I can't help but feel…"

Tikki gently kissed Marinette's cheek. "Get some sleep. It'll be easier in the morning."

The door in the floor popped open as Marinette's mom came into the room. Tikki hid under the bed.

"Mind if I sleep with you tonight?" Sabine said.

Marinette shook her head.

"I love you, Marinette," Sabine said, as she crawled into bed with her.

"I love you too, Mama."

Wrapped in the safety and love of her mother's arms, Marinette finally fell asleep.


	4. Perte

Adrien groaned in frustration when he walked into his room. Of course the maid would have come in and made his bed for him. He had hoped that since it was still relatively early that she wouldn't have made the bed yet. However, there the bed was, pristine and beautiful.

"What a day," he mumbled. "First, I lose my Miraculous. Then, I get bitten by a giant spider. And now I find that my bed is already made…"

"Poor, poor me," Plagg said. "My life is so miserable. I have superpowers and staff that wait on me hand and foot. Waah."

"Shut it, Plagg. This is serious." Adrien pulled back the duvet, only to find that the sheets were a different color. "Oh, no. My sheets have been changed, too. What if the Miraculous winds up in the washing machine?"

Plagg yawned. "It'll survive. It's been around for over five thousand years. A little water and soap isn't going to hurt it."

Adrien dropped to his hands and knees and started looking around on the floor, desperately hoping to catch a glimpse of silvertone somewhere in the dense carpeting. "You're magically connected to it. Can't you sense it, or something?"

"Of course I can." Plagg flew over the bed and plopped down on one of the big pillows.

Adrien gritted his teeth. "And?"

"Eh, it's in the house somewhere. Hey, could you bring me some camembert?"

"No, I can't bring you some camembert! I have to find my ring!"

"I don't know. I wouldn't mind a little vacation…"

"A _vacation_? You don't get to take a vacation! What if Ladybug needs Cat Noir again?"

"You seemed to handle it pretty well without me."

"Yeah, this time! What if I'd needed to use Cataclysm?"

"You didn't."

"Argh! You are so frustrating!"

"I don't know why you're so freaked out. The ring will turn up eventually. If you don't find it, somebody on staff will, and they'll return it to you."

"What if they put it on? What then?"

"Relax, Adrien," Plagg said. "The ring is totally useless without me in it. The only way that somebody else can take control of the Miraculous is if I'm already inside it when they pick it up."

"You weren't inside the Miraculous when I first picked it up."

"That was different. I was given to you. You were discovering the Miraculous for the first time, with me inside it. And boy, had I been in there a long time."

Adrien squinted at Plagg. "I think you're just trying to get out of having to do the work of transforming me."

"Well, I am," Plagg said, grinning mischievously. "But I'm telling the truth, too. There are only three ways somebody can take control of a Miraculous that belongs to somebody else. One, the owner willingly removes the Miraculous and then hands it over. Two, the owner dies and then the Miraculous is taken. Three, the Miraculous is forcibly removed while the owner is transformed. That's it. You don't need to worry about the Miraculous being used by somebody else."

"Well, I still need it to help Ladybug. Hawk Moth isn't going to stop Akumatizing people just because I happened to lose my ring."

Plagg yawned and stretched again. "Well, I suppose you're right. But can I at least have one day off?"

Adrien rolled his eyes. "You're not going to help me unless I say yes, are you?"

Plagg just grinned.

"Fine. But no camembert until you help me find my ring."

"What kind of injustice is that?"

Adrien's bedroom door slammed open. His father's voice boomed through the room. " _Adrien_!"

Plagg whisked away under the pillow, disappearing in a flash.

 _What now?_ Adrien thought. "Up here, Father."

Gabriel's footsteps thundered up the stairs to the second level of Adrien's room. Adrien turned around to face his father, wondering what it could have been that had made his father angry this time.

His father's face was completely white. He threw his arms around Adrien and held him close in an awkwardly tight grip. A moment later, he pulled away and slapped Adrien across the face. "What were you _thinking_? You could have been killed!" He blinked a tear out of his eye and pulled Adrien into another embrace.

His face still stinging, Adrien pulled away from his father's arms. "Father, I'm fine. Really." He rubbed his cheek.

Gabriel looked down at the floor and folded his arms. "Adrien, you could have died. When I heard about what happened—"

"I told you, I'm fine."

"What were you thinking, rushing in like that?"

"I was thinking that Ladybug was going to die if I didn't do something."

"That's no reason to put your life in danger."

"But she's saved us—I couldn't just let her die."

"Yes, you could have. Your life is worth far more to me than some costumed freak who happened to save our lives once."

"She is _not_ a freak," Adrien hissed.

"You are never leaving this house again," Gabriel said, raising his eyes to Adrien's face in an angry glare.

Anger surged through Adrien. "What? That's completely ridiculous!"

" _I can't lose you, Adrien!_ " Gabriel roared. He buried his face in his hands. "Not you, too. I can't—I just can't."

Adrien's heart sank. He remembered the night that his parents had gone out for a walk, and Gabriel had come back alone. All he had said was that one minute, she was there, then he turned his back on her for a moment, and she was gone. The police had searched for her for months, never getting any closer to finding out what had happened to her. That day had transformed Gabriel into a different person. He had always been slightly controlling and over-protective, but Adrien's mother had always tempered those qualities in him. With her gone, they came out in full force. Worst of all, he had totally withdrawn into himself. It had been three years since he had done anything with Adrien beyond the occasional meal and telling Adrien where he needed to be.

Gabriel drew a deep breath and sighed. He looked at Adrien for a long moment, then gave him a sad smile. He reached out a hand and ruffled Adrien's hair, the way he used to when Adrien was little. "I love you, son."

Adrien's mouth fell open. He could barely even remember the last time he had heard his father say _I love you._ "I—I love you too." He was quiet for a moment, unsure what to say next. "Listen. I'm sorry. I won't put myself in harm's way again. Just please, _please_ don't keep me locked up here."

"Look me in the eye and promise me you will not put yourself in such danger again."

Adrien hesitated. He couldn't really promise any such thing, not if he was going to keep on being Cat Noir. But he couldn't very well stay cooped up forever. "I promise."

"If I ever hear of you putting your life on the line like that again, I will pull you out of school. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Father."

Gabriel nodded. He turned around and headed back down the stairs.

Adrien ran after him. "Father, wait. Do you want to play a game of chess? The way we used to?"

Gabriel didn't turn around. "Not today, son." With that, he walked out of Adrien's room and shut the door behind him.

Adrien sighed and collapsed onto his couch.

Plagg flew through the air and landed on the couch beside Adrien. He didn't say anything. He just nuzzled up against Adrien's side.

Adrien glanced down at the little Kwami and smiled. "Well…I guess I could get you some camembert if you wanted."

Plagg's whole face lit up.

* * *

The next morning, still ringless, Adrien walked into the school right on time. Mercifully, there had been no other Akumatized villain since the Arachnid's appearance the day before, so Adrien had not missed his Miraculous too much. Plagg promised that he would help Adrien find the ring as soon as today's activities were over. It was more than the promised day of vacation, but Adrien didn't have the energy to argue with Plagg anymore.

As he walked in, Adrien grinned when he saw Nino holding Alya. Ever since that day at the zoo, Nino and Alya had been fairly close. Even though he had actually been at the zoo to coach Nino on approaching Marinette, Alya and Nino seemed to be a much better fit for each other.

Adrien waved. "Hey, guys!"

Nino looked up with a frown. "Hey, Adrien."

Alya kept her face buried in Nino's chest.

The grin slid off of Adrien's face. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure," Nino said, in hushed tones.

Alya let out a single choked sob. She pulled away from Nino and wiped her eyes and nose. Adrien immediately took a handkerchief out of his bag and handed it to her.

"Thanks," she muttered, taking the handkerchief and blowing her nose.

"Whoa," Nino said, looking at Adrien. "Even your stuff that's meant for snot is fancy."

Adrien shot him a reproving look.

Nino grinned sheepishly. "Sorry." He turned back to Alya and laid his hand on her shoulder. "So what's going on, babe?"

Alya sniffed. "It's Marinette. She…she's not coming to school today because...because her dad got _shot_ yesterday morning _._ " She started to cry again.

"What?" Nino and Adrien cried simultaneously.

"It was terrible. We got to her house just as they were bringing him to the ambulance. They had stuff wrapped around his head, but it was all soaked with blood."

Adrien's stomach turned at the thought. He had met Tom Dupain, and found him to be a likeable person. "Did he…make it?"

"Not really. The doctor said that he was alive, but that he was a vegetable. He'll be on life support for another week before the doctors have to take him off of it. Unless Marinette's mom decides to pull the plug sooner." Alya buried her face in Nino's chest again.

Nino wrapped his arms around Alya and held her tight. "Dude. That bites."

Adrien thought of Marinette. Poor, sweet Marinette, sitting at home, crying her eyes out, desperately praying for her father to come home, knowing full well that he would not. He thought of all the lonely tear-soaked nights he had spent mourning his mother's loss, when hope that she would return finally turned to resignation.

Alya pulled away and blew her nose again. "I spent all day at the hospital with Marinette and her mom."

Nino smoothed some of Alya's hair back down. "They must be pretty devastated, huh?"

"Yeah." Alya blew her nose a final time. "I bought a card for them on the way here. I thought that maybe the class could sign it."

"That's a great idea," Nino said. "I'm sure they'd like that."

Adrien sighed. All the sympathy cards in the world wouldn't ease Marinette's pain. He knew that all too well. But at least she would know she had people who cared about her. Who had been there for Adrien when his mother disappeared? Certainly not his father.

Chloe. Of all the people in the world, self-centered, self-important Chloe had been there for him. Chloe's mother had divorced her father several years earlier, so even though she still got to see her mother from time to time, she had an inkling of what that loss felt like. She came over a few times and they talked on the phone. It was one of the reasons that even today, despite how much Chloe disgusted him, he still considered her a friend.

What would it have been like to have a whole classroom full of people to share his pain? To feel for him, to care about him?

Alya held up the handkerchief. "Thanks, Adrien."

"No problem. Keep it."

Alya nodded and stuffed the handkerchief into her pocket as the bell started to ring.

Dejected, Adrien followed Nino and Alya to Ms. Bustier's classroom. He resolved that he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that Marinette knew that she was not alone—that she had a friend who knew what she was going through.

"Good morning, class," Ms. Bustier said, without her usual smile. "As I'm sure some of you may know already, Marinette Dupain-Cheng will not be joining us today. Her father is in the hospital after being shot, and he may never recover. Alya has bought a card for her, which she is going to pass around the classroom for everyone to sign."

Alya handed the card to the row behind her first, so the card had to circulate around the whole room before it finally made it back to Adrien and Nino's row. Adrien could barely find a spot to sign his name. The whole card was covered in heartfelt notes, including one particularly touching one from Rose. Even Chloe had written something nice.

Adrien's eyes started to water. What would it have been like to get a card like this? Would it have made things easier?

He found a spot where he could write a short note. He bit his lip, wondering what he could say.

Finally, he put his pen to the card.

 _I know what you're going through. Call me if you need someone to talk to._

He finished it with his name and phone number. He passed the card on to Nino, who signed it and passed it back to Alya.

Lost in memories of loss, Adrien barely heard Ms. Bustier as she started the day's lesson.


	5. Faire Face

**Author's Note: First of all, a huge thank you to the people who have reviewed! I'm a review junkie, so it means a lot to me. Secondly, I wanted to explain one of my storytelling decisions. One of the reviewers pointed out that Adrien is totally oblivious and sheltered, I'm guessing in response to the fact that I have Adrien aware of Marinette's odd behavior and of women's behavior in general. Yes, Adrien grew up extremely sheltered, but after a while at school, I assume that he's started to notice the way girls act around him. Plus, he also has a television, so I think he has some inkling based on that. I also think he knows that Marinette likes him, which is why he acts so awkwardly when their hands touch in "The Gamer." And he certainly knows that Chloe likes him. So yes, he's still pretty oblivious, but I think he's not totally oblivious about things. Though perhaps I give him more credit than he deserves. ;) Plus, I think he** ** _wants_** **Ladybug to like him, which is why he jumps to that conclusion. Anyway, thanks for caring enough about my story to point that out, and I hope that you keep reading and enjoying it!**

Marinette could barely drag herself off the couch when she heard the doorbell ring. School was out by now, which probably meant that it was Alya at the door. She was torn between the desire to be alone and desperate for company at the same time. Her mom had slept for most of the day, and right now, she was at the hospital filling out paperwork, leaving Marinette totally alone. She had asked if Marinette wanted to go to the hospital with her, but Marinette couldn't bear to walk into the hospital where she knew her father lay, completely mindless.

Tikki had been respectfully quiet for most of the time. She'd brought Marinette an apple, which Marinette couldn't bring herself to eat.

When the doorbell rang a second time, Tikki nudged at Marinette. "You should answer the door."

"I don't want to talk to anybody, Tikki."

"I know. But it's not good for you to isolate yourself. Now's the time that you need people, more than ever. Go answer the door."

Marinette finally got up from the couch and opened the door.

"Hey, girl," Alya said, her tone much less confident than usual. She carried a cotton tote over her shoulder.

"Hey, Alya." Marinette embraced her best friend and then gestured for her to come in.

"I brought ice cream. Cookie dough."

Marinette smiled weakly. "My favorite."

The two girls headed over to the couch and sat down. Alya had even brought two spoons. They popped the lid off the ice cream and ate it straight out of the container. Something about Alya being there brought Marinette's appetite back, and after not eating all day, the ice cream actually tasted good. They finished off the whole pint in less than ten minutes.

"Thanks, Alya," Marinette said, feeling somewhat strengthened.

"No problem. Hey, I brought you this." Alya pulled an envelope out of her bag and handed it to Marinette.

Marinette's eyes shot open wide as she opened the card. Every inch was crammed full of little notes.

 _Praying for you —Alix_

 _Marinette, I can't imagine how horrible all of this must be for you. I know how much I love my parents and I couldn't even begin to think about what it would be like to lose one of them. But I hope you know that there are a lot of people in our class who really care about you, me included. Please let me know if I can do anything to help you out—homework, chores, whatever. Don't give up hope on life, because life is still beautiful and full of happy things. Love, Rose_

 _I hope that you are okay, Marinette. –Kim_

 _You're one of the nicest people I know, and it's awful that something this terrible happened to you. If there's anything I can do, I'll help you out. Love, Mylene_

 _Sorry –Ivan_

 _Marinette, I'm sorry that the horrible probability of crime in Paris caught up to your family. However, statistics do show that with counseling and the help of friends, families have a 97% chance of recovering from tragedy. I am sure that you will not be an outlier in this scenario. Stay hopeful. –Max_

 _You once helped me see hope for myself. You should have hope, too. –Juleka_

 _Sorry for your loss, Marinette –Nathanael_

 _So sorry for your loss –Sabrina_

 _I am truly sorry, Marinette. I mean it. –Chloe_

Marinette stifled tears. Note after note filled the card, each one heartfelt and kind. She spied one little message in cramped handwriting that was stuck in between two larger notes.

 _I know what you're going through. Call me if you need someone to talk to. –Adrien_

"Adrien wrote his phone number in here," Marinette whispered.

Alya grinned. "Probably because he doesn't know you already have his number. You know, since you erased all traces of your call from his phone."

Marinette's lip started to quiver. "Adrien once said that Papa's pies were delicious."

The grin melted from Alya's face. "Uh…here, look at this." She pulled a handkerchief out of her bag. "I had to wash it…but check out the initials."

Marinette blinked tears out of her eyes as she took the handkerchief from Alya. The crisp white cloth was beautifully embroidered with a silvery white thread. "A.A."

"Yeah! Adrien gave it to me. I thought that maybe you'd like it."

"Adrien gave you one of his handkerchiefs?"

"Yeah…I was crying at school today."

Despite everything, Marinette grinned and held the handkerchief away from her. "Ew. Did you blow your nose in it?"

"I said that I washed it."

Marinette let out a weak laugh and examined the handkerchief more closely. She ran her fingers over the embroidery. "This is silk thread. It's really beautiful."

"Yeah, for something that's intended for blowing noses, it's pretty high class. But I guess that's what life is like when you're a famous model and your dad's a fashion designer."

At the word _dad_ Marinette's spirits sank again. She knew that Alya was trying to make her feel better, but nothing could make the pain of loss go away. Not even thinking about Adrien.

"Yeah. I guess."

Alya drooped. "Hey, why don't we go for a walk? It'll be good for you to get some sunshine, right?"

Shrugging, Marinette pulled out her phone. "Why not? Let me send my mom a text."

After Marinette sent the text, she grabbed her purse and set of keys and the two of them walked down through the apartment. As they walked through the bakery, Marinette felt a fresh wave of anger and sadness sweep through her.

 _No,_ she thought. _Try to avoid negative emotions. It wouldn't do for_ Ladybug _to get Akumatized, now would it?_ She redirected her thoughts to the silk handkerchief that she had left on the couch upstairs, and thought of Adrien's note.

"Adrien said that he knew what I was going through," Marinette said. "I wonder what he meant by that. I know his mom's not around, but he never mentioned it or anything. Do you think she was"—she swallowed—"murdered?"

"No clue, girl." Alya pointed to a big sign. "Oh, check that out! It's a new ad featuring you-know-who!"

Marinette looked up at the redesigned perfume ad and sighed. Thinking of Adrien somehow only made her feel worse.

Alya's grin melted again. "Uh…so…have you seen my latest entry on the Ladyblog?"

"I don't care about the Ladyblog, Alya!" Marinette said. "I don't care about _anything._ Nothing matters anymore!"

Alya said nothing. She drew Marinette into a hug and let Marinette weep onto her shoulder. After several minutes, wherein Alya glared at any onlookers who saw them, Marinette finally reined in her grief again.

"I'm sorry," she said. "It's so…"

"You don't need to be sorry."

"Do you think that Ladybug could have somehow stopped this?"

"What? Ladybug? Well…she seems to focus on supervillains, not everyday scumbags. She leaves that to the police."

"The police didn't do anything to save my father. Maybe Ladybug _should_ focus on everyday scumbags. Maybe if she did, my father would still be alive."

"Maybe if she did, she'd never have time for the supervillains. Paris is a huge city. She can't be everywhere at once."

"I can't help but feel that this is _my_ fault."

"Your fault? What, that Ladybug didn't save your dad?"

Marinette jumped. "Oh, no…that's not what I meant…I, uh, just meant that maybe if I'd been home, then maybe I would have been able to call the police from my room or something."

Alya gave Marinette another quick hug. "Don't think that way. You'll drive yourself crazy. C'mon. Let's go to the park."

* * *

Marinette was given the option to stay home from school as long as she wanted, but the next morning, Tikki urged her to go back to school.

"It's not good for you to stay alone all the time, Marinette," Tikki said.

"What about my mom?" Marinette asked. "She needs me here."

There was a knock on the door. Tikki whisked away to hide just in time as Marinette's mom popped up through the door. She looked up at Marinette with a sad look on her face.

"Well, sweetie," she sighed, "I'm going to the hospital again. Do you want to come?"

The sterile, unfeeling environment of the hospital filled Marinette with dread. Something about the thought of seeing her father in a coma made her stomach hurt. "I know that I should go see him, but…Mama, it's too hard right now."

"I understand. But you will come see him before…?"

Marinette's stomach somersaulted. "Yes, Mama."

Sabine nodded. "Well…I'm off. I don't like the idea of you staying here all by yourself."

"I guess I'll go back to school," Marinette said. Seeing Alya would certainly help, and maybe she would be able to talk to Adrien. She caught some movement out of the corner of her eye, and saw Tikki peeking out from behind the bulletin board, with an encouraging smile on her face.

"Okay. I love you, Marinette."

"I love you too, Mama."

After her mother left, Marinette hurried to get ready for school. She would be a few minutes late, but that was nothing new.

Marinette slung her book bag over her shoulder. "Maybe I should have gone to see Papa."

"You're not ready," Tikki said. "That's okay. It's nothing to be ashamed of. You need to see your friends."

"They're going to ask me a million questions."

"Then just tell them you don't want to talk about it. I'm sure they'll understand."

Marinette nodded. "Well then, I guess I better go to school."

The walk to school seemed longer than usual. Marinette felt like she was dragging her heart on the sidewalk behind her, and it felt like a hundred-kilogram weight holding her back. When she finally arrived, she stared up at the school entrance for five minutes before she collected herself enough to go inside.

"You can do this," Tikki whispered.

Bracing herself, Marinette climbed the stairs and walked into the school, pretending that she was confident, cool, and collected. She gracefully made her way to Ms. Bustier's classroom and walked in. She didn't make eye contact with anybody. She just kept her eyes on Alya the whole time until she sat down.

"Marinette," Ms. Bustier said, a note of surprise to her voice. "I didn't expect to see you today."

Marinette shrugged, unsure of what to say.

"Well…it's good to have you back. Please know that you have all of our deepest condolences."

Marinette nodded and managed to choke out a "Thank you."

Fortunately, class continued without any other interruptions. Marinette paid more attention to taking notes than she ever had before in her life, and found that losing herself in Ms. Bustier's lecture helped her forget some of the pain.

When class ended, however, that was a different story. The whole classroom crowded around her, asking her questions. She wanted to say, "I don't want to talk about it," but all that happened was that she burst into tears and ran from the room. She ran to the nearest girls' room and hid in a stall and cried. She cried and cried and cried, as if she was just finding out the news all over again. She cried until her stomach hurt and her throat was hoarse.

When she finally surfaced from some of her grief, she was able to take a breath. She was sure that the whole bathroom would be full of girls, wanting to talk to her. But the bathroom was quiet.

After several moments of silence, there was a voice.

"I'm sorry, girl. I told them all to leave you alone for the rest of the day."

Marinette opened the stall door to find Alya leaning up against the bathroom door, holding it shut.

"Thanks, Alya."

"Come here." Alya held her arms out.

Sniffing, Marinette ran to Alya's arms and hugged her.

"Do you want to go home?"

"No…going home sounds worse, somehow."

"I understand. Come on. Let's go to the next class."

The rest of the school day passed without incidence. Everyone gave her plenty of space and lots of encouraging smiles. Rose gave her a wordless hug, and Ivan gave her an affectionate cuff on the shoulder. By the time the bell rang and she was walking out of the school with Alya by her side, she was glad that she had come to school.

Halfway down the steps, someone called to her.

"Marinette! Wait."

Marinette's stomach flipped at the sound of the voice. She wheeled around to see Adrien running down the stairs after her. "Oh…hi, Adrien."

Adrien stopped in front of her. "Hi."

There was a long, awkward silence. Abruptly, Adrien pulled Marinette into a tight hug, then let her go again. His face turned bright pink.

"I know you probably don't feel like talking," he said. "But…if you wanted to get your mind off of things, you could come by my place later. Play some Mecha Strike III or something. Alya can come too, if she wants."

Grief and elation competed for precedence in Marinette's mind. "Oh…wow…to, uh…house later?"

"That sounds great, Adrien," Alya said. "We'll come by in an hour or so, is that okay?"

"Sure. See you then." Adrien gave Marinette a small smile before hurrying down the stairs to the car that waited for him.

"Let's go home and check on your mom," Alya said, patting Marinette on the back.

When the two of them arrived at the bakery, they were surprised to find that the place was empty.

"Mama?" Marinette called. She looked all over the house. "Huh. Mama's not here. Maybe she's still at the hospital." She took her cell phone and dialed her mother's number, which promptly went to voicemail. "Hi, Mama, it's me. I'm going over to a friend's house, so call me if you need me. I love you. So much."

"Can you believe Adrien invited you to his _house_?" Alya asked, grinning.

"I know." Marinette tucked her phone back into her pocket "I just wish that this wasn't the reason why."

"I know, girl. I know."

After freshening up some, Marinette and Alya headed out the door.


	6. Une Nouvelle Menace

**Author's Note: Hey everybody, sorry it's been so long since I posted on this. I've been really busy with another writing project—namely, an original novel that I'm hoping to have published this fall. It's currently being looked over by beta readers right now, giving me some time to work on fanfics again. Also coming up: I am partnering with another writer and we are going to write a** ** _Star Wars Rebels_** **fanfic together, so if that strikes your interest, keep an eye on my profile or follow me. Thanks so much for reading and hopefully you'll enjoy the rest of my Miraculous fan fiction!**

* * *

Adrien stood at the door to his father's office, trying to muster up the courage to knock. It struck him as odd that when he was Cat Noir, he wouldn't hesitate to rush into danger. He hadn't hesitated to sacrifice himself for Ladybug. But something about talking to his own father filled him with an apprehension that even the most threatening Akuma hadn't.

"Just do it already," Plagg whispered from beneath Adrien's jacket. "I want some camembert."

Adrien rolled his eyes and rapped on the door—hesitantly at first, then firmly.

His father's voice, full of irritation, sounded from inside. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Father," Adrien said, his voice cracking slightly.

There was nothing but silence for a moment. Then, the door swung open. Gabriel Agreste stood tall, looking down at Adrien in a way that made Adrien feel like he was only six inches tall.

"What is it?" Gabriel snapped, his voice even more irritated than before.

"Father, I wanted to let you know I'm having friends over."

"Not that idiotic boy with the headphones. I won't have him in my house."

Adrien clenched his fists. "Nino isn't an idiot."

"That is _most_ certainly debatable."

Adrien drew a deep breath. This was not the hill he wanted to die on—he needed to stay focused or his father wouldn't let him have anyone over at all. "It's not him, anyway. It's two girls in my class—Alya Cesaire and Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "Girls? I won't stand for such impropriety."

"I'll leave the door to my room open, I promise."

"No, Adrien. You need to focus on your Chinese, anyway."

"Please, Father. Marinette is having a really difficult time—"

"I said _no."_

"But she just lost her father!" Adrien's voice echoed in the empty hallway.

Gabriel raised his eyebrows, and for a moment, his expression softened. "Very well. Nathalie will supervise you."

"Thank you, Father."

"Now run along."

"Thank you."

Gabriel shut the door with a slam.

 _It's not ideal,_ Adrien thought, _but it will work._ He hurried toward his room.

"Adrien," Plagg whispered.

"Not now."

"But I have to tell you something."

The doorbell rang. "That's probably them," Adrien said. He skidded to a halt and ran toward the entry hall instead. "I'll get your camembert later."

"But that's not—"

"Shh!"

Adrien arrived at the top of the stairs just as Nathalie let the two girls in. "Welcome, ladies," Nathalie said flatly. Obviously, Adrien's father had apprised her of her role in this, and she was less than happy about it.

"Thank you," Alya said.

"Hi, Marinette, Alya," Adrien called as he walked down the stairs. "Thanks for coming."

Marinette stared at Adrien for a moment before Alya nudged her. She jumped. "Oh, uh…thanks for…the…"

"Thanks for having us over, Adrien," Alya said, with a sigh.

Adrien gestured. "Not a problem. Come with me." Alya and Marinette headed for the stairs, but Marinette tripped on the first step. Adrien hurried to help her up, but she hesitated and gave him a panicked deer-in-the-headlights look when he offered her his hand. "That first step's tricky."

Marinette let out a nervous laugh as she took Adrien's hand. "Yeah. I—I guess so." Once on her feet the three of them walked up the stairs and headed toward Adrien's room, with Nathalie trailing behind them.

"Wow, Adrien," Alya said, as they walked into his room. "Your room is huge. I bet your closet is bigger than my room."

"Uh…thanks?" Adrien said. He gestured toward the couch, and the three of them sat down. "Hey, are you two hungry? I could have the kitchen send something up for us."

Marinette stared at the floor. "I'm not so hungry."

A pang of sympathy surged through Adrien. "Well—"

"This is so embarrassing," Alya said, "but could I use your bathroom?"

Adrien started. "Uh, yeah—it's over there."

"Oh, no, I couldn't possibly use your bathroom…that would be weird…no offense."

"Um, none taken, I think. Hey, Nathalie, could you show Alya to the guest bathroom?"

Nathalie rolled her eyes. "Of course. This way, mademoiselle."

The room fell silent when Alya and Nathalie left. Marinette just stared at the floor.

"So…do you want to play some Mecha Strike III?" Adrien asked.

Marinette burst out sobbing.

Adrien jumped. "Um, no, we don't have to do that! I mean, whatever you want to do!"

"It doesn't matter. I don't want to do anything. Everything just makes me think of him."

"I know what you mean. When I lost my mother…it was like everything in my life grinded to a halt. I felt so completely lost."

Marinette wiped her tears away. "How did she die?"

"She disappeared. She and my father went for a walk one evening, and he turned his back on her for a few seconds. When he turned around again, she was gone. All he could imagine was that she had been kidnapped. But no ransom demands ever came. After a long enough time, we had to assume the worst had happened. Either she was dead…or…well, I don't like to think about what else might have happened to her. The case is still open, but the police have stopped working on it."

Marinette frowned. "That's another kind of thing Ladybug could have stopped. She could have stopped that scumbag from killing my father, and she could have kept your mother safe." Her frown deepened into a scowl.

"Ladybug and Cat Noir weren't even on the scene when my mother disappeared. And as for your father, well…she can't be everywhere at once."

Marinette sighed. "I know. It's just—what good is a superhero if she can't even protect her own—citizens?"

"She protects them from—"

"Supervillains, I know. But what about ordinary criminals? Doesn't she have a responsibility to protect Paris from them, too?"

Adrien shifted. It hadn't even occurred to him that he and Ladybug could have been doing more for the city. _Typical lazy cat,_ he thought. _Some superhero I am._ "I—I'm sure that Ladybug and Cat Noir have their reasons. Next time I see Ladybug, I'll pass your thoughts on to her. She seems to have to save my skin often enough, anyway."

Tears pooled in Marinette's eyes again. "So you think that this is her fault, then?"

"What? No! It's absolutely not her fault. It's one person's fault—the lowlife who shot your father. He's the only one at fault here."

"But she could have saved him!"

Heat rose to Adrien's cheeks. He wasn't about to let Marinette sit there and smear Ladybug's good name. "Maybe, maybe not! But I do know that if Ladybug _had_ known, she would have done something about it. Ladybug is a great person who really cares about the people of Paris. She's amazing, okay? She must have been somewhere else at the time, that's all. That's beyond her control, and it's beyond yours, too."

Marinette stared blankly at Adrien for a moment before she threw her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder. Awkwardly, Adrien hugged her back, while tears seeped through the fabric of his shirt.

"Thank you," Marinette whispered. "Thank you, Adrien."

Adrien just nodded and hugged her a little more tightly.

"What's this?" Nathalie's voice sounded from the doorway.

Both Adrien and Marinette jumped as they pulled apart.

"It's nothing, Nathalie," Adrien sputtered. "Marinette was upset, so…"

Nathalie narrowed her eyes at him, as if she wasn't completely convinced that everything was so innocent. "I see." She turned and glared at Alya, who grinned sheepishly. Alya danced around her and hurried into the room, plopping down on the couch next to Marinette.

"Let's watch some TV!" Alya said. "We should turn on the news and see if there's anything I can put on the Ladyblog!"

Adrien glanced at Marinette, who nodded wearily. He grabbed the remote and flipped on the television. The news seemed relatively boring—stories about political scandals and the like seemed to be the main headlining news.

 _"Wait just a minute, Marguerite,"_ said the news anchor. " _I'm getting reports that a new supervillain is storming the less savory parts of Paris. Do we have any footage of that, Jacques?"_

Adrien sat up on the edge of the couch. A supervillain? Now?

The news channel cut to helicopter footage of what was definitely the most intimidating supervillain they had ever seen. There were no bright whimsical colors—only blacks and greys adorned the woman who pulled automatic weapons from her back and shot a spray of bullets into what appeared to be a meth lab of some kind. The news anchor cut over the scene with commentary. _"Thus far, Marguerite, the supervillain seems to be focusing her efforts on criminals, leaving law-abiding citizens alone. But this is France, and even criminals have rights here. Police are on the scene already, but are awaiting approval to use heavier weapons to subdue the supervillain. Hopefully, Ladybug and Cat Noir will make it to the scene before any drastic measures are required, and before another life is lost."_

"Um," Adrien said, standing up abruptly. "You two sit and watch TV as long as you want. I'm going to run down to the kitchen real quick. Nathalie, you'll make sure they're comfortable, right?"

Nathalie rolled her eyes deeply. "Yes, Adrien."

Adrien ran from the room and ducked into a hall closet. "Plagg, claws out!"

"We still don't have your ring, Adrien," Plagg chided. "But if you had been willing to listen to me earlier, instead of obsessing over your girlfriends, you would have known that I found it."

"What? Where is it?"

"It's in your father's office. In his top left desk drawer. I noticed it while you were talking to him."

"Why would he have it?"

"Heck if I know, buddy."

Adrien cracked open the hall closet and peeked out. The coast was clear. He ran as quickly and quietly to his father's office as he could. When he arrived, he saw that the door was cracked open about an inch.

"Father?" Adrien pushed on the door, only to see that the room was empty. "He's probably stepped out to use the bathroom or something. Now's our chance." He stole into the room and tried to pull open the top left desk drawer. "It's locked."

"Here," Plagg said, flying from under Adrien's jacket and through the material of the desk drawer. A moment later, it popped open, and Plagg struggled up from under several layers of paper bearing the ring.

Adrien snatched the ring. "Plagg, I'm bringing you an entire wheel of camembert tonight."

Plagg made a sound something like a gurgle of delight.

Adrien ran back out into the hall and to the hall closet where he had hidden. With a sigh of relief, he slid the ring onto his finger and held his hand out in front of him.

"Plagg, claws out!"


	7. Récompense

Sabine sat at Tom's bedside, dragging her fingers lightly across the lines of his huge palm. She thought back to when they first dated—back when they refused to do anything more physically intimate than hold hands. Their first kiss wasn't even until their wedding day. A weak smile crept across Sabine's face as she remembered how often she had to fend off Tom's attempts at kissing her on the cheek—playfully, of course—before going back to insisting that all they do was hold hands. It had always been a source of great amusement, however, as to how tiny her hand was inside of his.

A pang shot through her as she realized that he would never hold her hand again.

"Tom, you have to listen to me," Sabine said, choking back tears. "I know they say you're gone, that there's nothing left inside your mind. But…I _know_ you can hear me." She sniffed. "You _have_ to hear me. Marinette needs you. I need you. You have to fight this. You have to come back from wherever you are." She burst out sobbing, laying her head on his chest. "Don't—leave—me—alone…"

She sat bolt upright, smearing the tears away and drawing a deep breath. She couldn't afford to be a mess like this. Not when Marinette needed her so much. Marinette would probably be home from school at any point now, and she would need comfort.

Sabine rose from her place beside Tom's bed. "I'll come back to see you again, love." She left the room, pausing at the door for one last glance back at her spouse's comatose form. Shaking her head, she pressed on to the nurse's station, each step feeling as heavy as lead. She signed out on the visitor log, then grabbed a tissue and blew her nose.

It was time to be strong.

She took a cab back to the bakery. The merry chimes on the door made her sick to her stomach. Could she even run this place by herself? She knew the basics of baking, but she was nothing like the pastry wizard that Tom was. No one could make such light, flaky dough. No one could make such soft, perfectly chewy cookies. No one could make such fluffy, tender cakes, or make such rich, creamy icing.

Once Tom was declared officially dead, his life insurance policy would pay out—and Sabine would never have to work a day again in her life. But work gave life meaning—and she could hardly abandon the bakery. It had been such a gamble to open it, when she and Tom were newly married and taking out the loan on the place. It had thrived since then, thrived like the love between them that held it together.

But she didn't know if she could honestly ever bake again.

With a sigh, she headed toward the staircase. She kicked something as she walked, something light and metallic that rolled across the floor. Glancing down, she saw the glint of brass as it rolled away and came to rest against the baseboard.

A bullet casing.

Dumbfounded, Sabine squatted down and picked up the brass shell. She stared at it, open-mouthed for a few seconds.

Rage shot through her. Hot, fiery rage. She squeezed the casing so tightly that it bent.

 _How inept are the police that they miss a casing at the crime scene? How useless are they! Useless, worthless…can't even catch a murderer…I hate them. I HATE them!_

She fell to her knees and pounded her fists on the floor. "And what about _you,_ Ladybug! What about _you,_ Cat Noir? Paris has as much crime as ever, and you sit around and do nothing? There is no justice in this city—none at all…"

 _None at all._

Tears rolled down Sabine's face and fiery rage burned hotter and hotter inside her.

 _If I ever see that man…I'll kill him myself. With my bare hands, if I have to…_

* * *

"Interesting…a person enraged with Ladybug and Cat Noir?" Hawk Moth stood before his intricately framed window, hand on his chin. "And what a horrible ordeal to have lived through, only to learn that the city has no recompense to offer for her loss. What suffering. What sorrow. What rage. It's beautiful, really…so beautiful…with such potential to be deadly…"

He turned around, drawing his lip into his mouth. "Perhaps it's time I bring a new class of supervillain to the scene—one who's thirsty for blood and vengeance. With such resentment toward Ladybug and Cat Noir, it should be no difficult matter for this wretched woman to bring me their Miraculous. After all…there is little better motivation for someone than the loss of a loved one."

He reached out and caught one of the shimmering white butterflies that spiraled around him. Cupping it between his hands, he grinned as the black surge of evil darkened its light into pure midnight. "Fly now, my little Akuma…and darken her heart!"

* * *

Sabine knelt on the floor, silently weeping and shaking with anger. She heard a light flutter of motion to her left, and she glanced up and saw a delicate black butterfly glowing with purple undertones. Before she even had time to be startled, the butterfly flew straight into the bullet casing in her hands.

Her rage increased a thousandfold. Her hurt, her sorrow—all of it grew. But along with it swelled a tremendous sense of strength and power. It made her head reel as though she was drunk.

Then, a strong, deep, assertive voice pushed its way into her consciousness. _"Recompense, I am Hawk Moth. You have suffered a deep loss and deserve revenge. I too have suffered loss. Let me give you the power you need to seek vengeance—all I ask in return is that you bring me the Miraculous of Ladybug and Cat Noir. Do we have an agreement?"_

Sabine rolled her eyes back into her head for a moment. A tiny voice inside of her screamed out, _No, not this way—it's not right,_ but the rage and sorrow and sense of power shoved it away. A grin crept onto her face. "Yes, Hawk Moth. We have an agreement. I'll bring you those Miraculous as swiftly as I'll bring justice to the streets of Paris!"

With that, purple smoke engulfed her, and Sabine Dupain-Cheng ceased to exist.

Only Recompense remained.

* * *

Marinette sat on the couch in Adrien's room, dumbfounded as she watched events unfold on the television. Hawk Moth had never chosen such a violent candidate before—all of them were bad, to be sure, but outright murdering people? This was a whole new level. It had never occurred to her just how lucky Paris had been that Hawk Moth had only been choosing teenagers or rock stars or the like.

"Wow," Alya said. "Can you believe Adrien got the urge to snack at a time like this? Ladybug and Cat Noir might show up at any minute!"

Marinette jumped. Ladybug needed to get over there, and fast. If she couldn't beat this villain and reverse all the damage being done, people were going to die and stay dead. She couldn't let that happen.

"Um…excuse me, Miss Nathalie?" Marinette said, turning around. "I don't suppose you could show me where that rest room is, could you?"

Nathalie sighed. "Right this way."

Marinette fidgeted with the clasp on her purse as she followed Nathalie to the guest bathroom. _Please let it have a window,_ she thought. To her relief, the bathroom did indeed have a window big enough for her to squeeze out of. She shut the door behind her and locked it. "Ugh…Miss Nathalie?" she called. "I do _not_ feel good. Go ahead and go back to keep Alya company."

"Are you sure?" Nathalie asked, and Marinette was surprised to hear genuine concern in her voice. "Can I bring you anything?"

"No. I'm fine. Really."

"Very well."

Marinette pressed her ear against the door and listened as Nathalie's footsteps receded. She clicked open the clasp on her purse and Tikki flew out. "We have some serious work to do, Tikki. There's this crazy violent Akumatized person shooting up criminals."

"Then let's transform!" Tikki said.

Marinette frowned. "Well…it's just…they are _criminals,_ after all. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to let this Akuma thin them out a bit."

"Marinette!"

"They hurt people, Tikki. They're murderers and thieves."

"Which is why the police put them in jail. You heard the news anchor. Even criminals have rights."

Marinette thought of her father lying in the hospital bed, holding on to life by a thread. "But…should they?"

"Marinette, I know you're upset about your father. But none of these people shot him. You're being unfair. You can't paint everyone with the same broad brush."

Marinette squeezed her eyes shut. "You're right…I don't know what came over me. It's just—I've been thinking how I need to do more to stop criminals…and now I'm rushing off to save them!"

"I know it must be hard. But you're strong, Marinette. I know you can overcome this." Tikki flew over and hugged Marinette's shoulder. "Are you ready?"

"I think so." Marinette drew a deep breath. "All right. Tikki, spots on!" She closed her eyes as she swept her hands across her eyes, feeling the magic setting the mask on her face as she did. The wave of magic flew across the rest of her body, and in the blink of an eye, her yo-yo appeared at her waist. She clenched her fists, ready to strike.

She ran over to the bathroom window and pried it open, slipping outside as she did. She swung her yo-yo, catching it on the branch of nearby tree. With that, she dove from the windowsill and headed for the slums of Paris.

It was time to save the world from the most dangerous villain she and Cat Noir had faced yet.

Several minutes later, Marinette landed lightly on a rooftop overlooking the place where the meth lab had been. It was replaced with a smoldering, blood-spattered mess. Dead bodies littered the ground. She shuddered. What kind of person could possibly kill so many people, even when Akumatized? Who was that heartless? Marinette shook her head as a wave of shame swept over her. How had she actually thought that dealing with criminals this way was a good thing? No, once this was all over, she was going to use Miraculous Ladybug to bring every last one of this criminals back to life.

Assuming Miraculous Ladybug had to power to bring people back from the dead. Marinette wrung her hands for a moment. If it didn't, whoever was Akumatized was going to spend the rest of their lives in jail just because Hawk Moth took over their minds. Really, Hawk Moth should be the one going to jail.

"That's a pretty big mess, Milady."

Marinette jumped and whirled around. "Cat Noir! You startled me."

"Wow, that's a first," Cat Noir said, but no smile was on his face. "Normally I'd make a joke of some kind…but…the dead people are kind of killing the mood." He grimaced. "No pun intended, I swear."

"Uh huh."

"No, I'm dead serious!"

"Really? _Really,_ Cat Noir?"

Cat Noir smacked his forehead. "That was a complete accident."

"Yeah, I'm sure it was," Marinette said, narrowing her eyes. "Where were you the other day, by the way?"

Cat Noir shook his head. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear about it until after the fact. You know I'd have been there in a heartbeat, otherwise."

Marinette scowled and planted a finger on Cat Noir's chest. "Someone I'm really close to almost _died._ "

"Wait…you and Adrien Agreste are really close?"

"How do you know that it was Adrien?" Marinette raised her eyebrows.

"Hey—I have my sources," Cat Noir said, and Marinette was almost certain she saw pink flash across his cheeks. "But yeah—you'll, uh, have to tell me more about this Adrien. I'd like to know more about who I'm competing with for your friendship."

"And you think _now_ is the best time for this?" Marinette said, gesturing toward the carnage. "We have to get this Akuma taken care of now, before anyone else dies. I'm not sure if my reversal magic can bring people back from the dead."

Cat Noir looked horrified for a moment, then swallowed. "Then let's get moving. I think I saw the Akuma heading north."

"North it is, then."

"Okay, but hey—if you _are_ able to save these people, do you think we can resurrect this conversation?"

Marinette glared. "Now I _know_ that one was on purpose."

Cat Noir grinned. "Maybe."

"Let's go," Marinette said, rolling her eyes. She swung her yo-yo and flew over to the next building, listening as Cat Noir followed behind her.

 _Can't he take_ anything _seriously?_ she thought. Still, she was glad that he was here with her, glad that she had him to back her up. She had honestly missed him when she was fighting Arachnid, and not just because he was a good fighting partner. She had been worried about him, even, and would have worried more if…well…she couldn't think about that now. She had to focus and get it together.

Paris was counting on her, after all.


	8. Vengeance

Adrien kept a close eye on the streets as he pole-vaulted from building to building. Being Cat Noir again was liberating. Exhilarating, even. He had not realized just how much he missed the absolute freedom to be himself that came along with transforming. And, as a definite plus, he would now be able to help Ladybug by being more than a human shield—though, if he was honest with himself, he did a lot of that as Cat Noir, too.

Regardless, he belonged at her side. He glanced over at the lithe curves of her body as she swung across the rooftops. What was it about her? It was so much more than her physical beauty. She was kind, and courageous, and competent—always standing up for those in need. And he would never forget how readily she fought to save his father's life.

His father.

His stride faltered; he almost lost his balance. In all the excitement, he had not had time to think about the fact that his ring was in his father's desk drawer. Had his father just found it and was planning on returning it to him later? If that was the case, he'd need to sneak his ring back into the desk. If Gabriel got the idea that Adrien had been poking around in his office, then he might suspect why his book was missing…the book which Adrien had lost.

"Cat Noir, stop!"

Adrien ground to a halt. Ladybug was behind him now. She swung across the street so that she was standing by his side and put her hands on her hips.

"Shouldn't we have seen something by now?" she asked.

"You would think so," Adrien said. He pushed all distraction from his mind—there would be time to deal with that later. He closed his eyes and listened closely for a moment. The faint whine of sirens reached his augmented hearing. "That way," he said, pointing.

"Then let's not waste another minute," Ladybug said. "Lead the way."

"Oh, no—after you, Milady."

"No, you've got better hearing than me."

"A fair point," Adrien said, striking a pose that he hoped was impressive.

Ladybug gave him a flat stare for a few moments before rolling her eyes. "Just get on with it."

With Adrien taking the lead, they pursued the sound of the sirens. It was only a few more minutes before they arrived on the scene. Adrien stifled a gasp. This villain was far more intimidating than the news helicopters had managed to convey. It was a surprisingly petite woman, but she was strapped with two massive machine guns and had what Adrien was pretty sure was a machete strapped to one hip. An enormous pistol sat on the other hip. Bandoliers of ammo crisscrossed her chest, and a black headband was tied across her forehead. She wore a necklace of a single bullet casing that shimmered with an eerie purple glow.

"The Akuma's got to be in her necklace," Ladybug whispered.

"That's just what I was thinking, too." Adrien squinted as he looked closer. "Wait a second—she's got something printed on her headband—Chinese characters of some kind. I can't make them out from here, though."

Ladybug blinked. "You read Chinese?"

"I am a cat of many talents," Adrien said, placing his hand on his chest. "There's a lot you don't know about me. But if you wanted to know more—"

"Then I'd ask." Ladybug's tone was uncharacteristically harsh. "Come on. Let's go stop this crazy woman before she kills any more poor helpless criminals. On three. One….two…three!"

They leapt down into the street between the supervillain and the police perimeter. Several of the policemen cheered.

"Ladybug and Cat Noir," the villain said, with a snarl. "You're here to stop me, I suppose. Here to stop the hand of justice. I believed in you once. Believed that you cared for Paris. But you're as useless as the police—and twice as conceited!" She raised one of the machine guns and sent a spray of bullets toward them.

Ladybug whirled her yo-yo, which magically cut through all the bullets and sent them falling to the ground. "We do care for Paris! More than you realize. But killing criminals isn't going to solve any problems."

Adrien squinted past the muzzle flash, this time making out what was written on her headband. It was the word for _justice_ and the Chinese transliteration of a name. "Justice for Thomas," Adrien whispered to Ladybug. "What do you suppose it means?"

Ladybug let out a gasp. Her face went white. "Ma—" She clapped her hands over her mouth and shook her head. "Madame Dupain-Cheng?"

"Sabine Dupain-Cheng is gone!" the villain shouted. "I am Recompense, and I will have recompense for my loss and all crimes in Paris!"

"No," Ladybug whispered. "No, no…"

Recompense raised both machine guns.

"Ladybug, look out!" Adrien shouted. He leapt in front of her, spinning his staff. The bullets ricocheted away, bouncing on the streets with sparks. He glanced over his shoulder. Ladybug seemed to have gotten herself back together, because her face was steely with determination. She flung her yo-yo toward a street lamp and swung through the air, landing a kick on Recompense's shoulder. Recompense stumbled back. Bullets sprayed into the air, blasting out windows and sending shattered glass flying.

A terrified-looking man burst out of one of the building and made a break for it. Recompense let out a scream of rage and trained her guns on him. "YOU! YOU KILLED HIM!"

Adrien leapt toward Recompense, catching her guns with the end of his staff and knocking them both from her grasp. With a shriek, she whipped out the machete and hacked at him. He barely managed to dodge the blow. "Ladybug, a little help would be good about now!"

Ladybug stood frozen, staring at the man who was fleeing.

"Ladybug!"

Ladybug threw her yo-yo above her head, shouting, " _Lucky charm!"_ Magic congealed in the air and a red-and-black object dropped into her hands. Her mouth fell open. "A throwing knife?"

Recompense pulled out her pistol and shot at Cat Noir, who dodged every bullet. "I'm hoping you can find a non-violent way to use that. The last thing we need is another dead body!"

Ladybug glanced back and forth, looking totally lost. Finally, her gaze settled on the fleeing man. "No. I have the answer. That man killed her husband. He has to die." There was a dark and furious tone to her voice that Adrien had never heard before.

"What? You're kidding, right? You can't do that! That's not the person you are, Ladybug! You can't be judge, jury, and executioner!"

"Watch me!" Ladybug spat. She cocked her arm back to throw the knife.

In slow motion, Adrien watched as the knife sailed toward the criminal who had shot Tom Dupain.

" _Cataclysm!"_ Adrien leapt into the air, grabbing for the knife with his power-charged hand. His fingertips barely brushed it as it flew past him.

For one heartbeat, everything went totally silent.

Then a deafening explosion went off, as if matter and anti-matter had collided.

Adrien was thrown toward the unyielding pavement. Pain shot through him as his back hit the ground. The world grew fuzzy as he felt his eyelids droop. The clouds above him, pink with the first hint of dusk, seemed to spin in circles around him. Footsteps approached, light and delicate. They reminded him of the way Ladybug's feet so gently hit the ground.

"Ladybug?" he called.

Recompense leaned forward into his view. "Try again." She snatched his right wrist and reached for his ring.

"NO!"

Ladybug's yo-yo soared through the air, slamming into Recompense's hands. With a yelp, Recompense dropped Adrien's hand and ran to face Ladybug. Groaning, Adrien rolled onto his side and tried to push himself up.

"You're worthless, Ladybug!" Recompense shouted. "You think because you've stopped a few flashy villains that you're making Paris a better place? My husband is dying in the hospital because you weren't there to save him. How many people do you think die every day because you're too lazy to fight anyone besides superheroes?"

"I promise that I'll fight harder than ever for Paris," Ladybug said. "But Cat Noir is right. No one person gets to be judge, jury, and executioner."

"I do!" More gunfire echoed through the early evening air.

Finally, Adrien managed to struggle to his feet. He almost lost his balance again, but he caught himself with his staff.

Recompense let out a snarl, and looked up as if she saw an invisible person. "Be patient. You'll get your Miraculous as soon as the man who shot Tom is dead!"

"Hawk Moth can't give you the peace you're looking for," Ladybug said.

"I don't want peace." Recompense drew her machete. "I want _blood._ "

Adrien's ring beeped at him. A surge of panic shot through him. Ladybug was running out of time too, and if they de-transformed in front of this crazed woman with her deadly weapons, they would be like a cat on a hot tin roof and a ladybug on a windshield.

"Ladybug!" he called, stumbling toward them. "We have to go! We can't do any more right now!"

"Yes, run like the cowards you are!" Recompense shouted. "Just know that every second you're gone, more people will die—and they'll die because of YOU!"

Ladybug flipped out of the way. She gave her yo-yo a wild swing; it caught on a street light. As she swooped past him, she snatched Adrien by the middle and they swung up onto the flat roof of the tall clothing store. Immediately, both of them fell flat to dodge the ensuing spray of bullets.

"Cat Noir?" Ladybug said. Her mask was wet with tears. "Cat Noir, oh, I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me! I—I just—"

"You definitely owe me an explanation," Adrien said, wondering how this Ladybug could be the same one who tried to murder somebody mere minutes ago. "But we don't have time for that now. Once this whole deal is over, though—we're going to have a sit down and talk it over. I'm worried about you, Ladybug."

Ladybug hung her head in shame. "I—it's hard to explain…" Her earring beeped.

"Just go," Adrien said. "I'll call you in twenty minutes, okay?"

"Are you sure you're all right?"

Adrien propped himself up on his elbows and peered over the edge of the roof. Recompense had stopped shooting at them and ambled off in the direction that the criminal had gone. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be fine."

Ladybug took Adrien's hands. Her vibrant blue eyes stared deep into his—and if he leaned forward an inch, he could have kissed her. "Can you ever forgive me?" she asked.

Adrien found himself at a loss for words. Heat rose to his face at how close she was.

"Cat Noir?"

"Of course, Milady," Adrien said. "I forgive you."

There was an awkward pause while neither of them moved. Then, Ladybug's earring beeped again. She jumped to her feet. "Twenty minutes."

"Twenty minutes."

"Talk to you in a bit then," Ladybug said. "And then we can save this poor woman." She flung her yo-yo across the street and swooped away.

Once she was out of sight, Adrien climbed to his feet. He felt steady enough to make it home, where he could get some camembert for Plagg.

A thousand questions flew through his mind as he pole-vaulted his way back to the mansion. What had come over Ladybug? Would she even be honest with him?

When he finally made it through the window back into the mansion, he was nearly ready to collapse.

But there was still work to be done.


	9. Une Changement de Plans

Still shaking, Marinette slid through the window into the guest bathroom at the Agreste mansion—and just in time. Not a second after her Marinette's feet hit the floor, Tikki came spinning out of her earrings and the magical suit swirled away. Tikki nearly plummeted down; Marinette reached out and snatched the Kwami before she hit the bathroom floor.

"Tikki, are you all right?"

Tikki weakly opened her eyes and gave a little cough. "That last Lucky Charm hurt me, Marinette. Do you know what it does to a Kwami when their powers are used for evil?"

"What? No, I wasn't using them for evil, I wanted to stop Recompense…"

"You _were_ using them for evil! Don't you ever wonder why Hawk Moth doesn't Akumatize two people at once? It's because he _can't._ He can't because abusing his Kwami's powers the way he does drains so much energy and causes so much pain." Tikki coughed again, and let out a soft moan.

"But—how could I have been using you for evil? I knew Cat Noir and I had to act fast, so I tried to concentrate on stopping Recompense."

"The Lucky Charm magic listens to your heart—not your head."

"You mean…there was… _evil_ in my heart?" Tears surged up in Marinette's eyes.

"Yes. There was. You wanted vengeance, not justice. You wanted to kill that man, Marinette. Murder is evil. And the minute you held that knife, your head followed your heart right away."

"But I—oh, _Tikki,_ I don't know what came over me. It was like somebody else jumped inside me when I saw him." Marinette slid down and sat on the floor. "How badly are you hurt?"

"I ache all over, and I'm cold."

"I'm so, so sorry. This is all my fault. If I get you a cookie, will that help?"

"It will give me enough strength to move forward. But the pain won't go away. The cold won't go away. Not until you use Lucky Charm for good, ten times in a row."

"Ten? Why ten?"

"It's the way the magic works. It takes at least ten acts of goodness to counter a single act of evil." Tikki shuddered. "Poor Nooroo. His Miraculous will have to be used for good ten times for every Akuma there has been before his pain will go away."

"Is Nooroo Hawk Moth's kwami?"

Tikki gave a shaky nod.

"I'll never let something like that happen to you, Tikki," Marinette said, standing up. "I'll never let evil like that into my heart again. We're going to go home, and I'm going to find you the biggest cookie I can, and then we'll get started on act of goodness number one—saving my mom."

A weak smile sneaked onto Tikki's face. "There's the Marinette I know."

Tenderly, Marinette tucked Tikki into her purse. She opened the bathroom door and ran down the hall, heading for the main doors.

"Marinette!" Alya ran down the hallway, catching up to her. "Girl, are you okay?"

"I'm just sick, is all," Marinette answered. "I have to go home."

"Oh. Well, I'll come with you. Adrien hasn't come back since he went to get snacks. Nathalie just left to check on him. She said that he likes to talk to their chef, so that's probably all that's going on."

"No, Alya…I'm sorry. I need to be alone this time. Tell Adrien I'm sorry for leaving." Marinette shook her head. "He'll probably hate me after this."

"Girl, he won't hate you. He knows you're having a hard time."

"I hope so," Marinette said. She reached the top of the stairs.

"I'll tell him," Alya said. "And then I'm heading home, too. It doesn't seem right for me to be here without you, you know?"

"Thanks, Alya." Marinette gave Alya a quick hug before running down the stairs and out the door.

Break

Marinette ran the whole way back to the bakery. It was exhausting—in her civilian form, she didn't have half the stamina that being transformed gave her. But, at least P.E. was good for something, because she didn't collapse the second she got home. She hurried into the bakery and pulled a gigantic chocolate chip cookie out of the case. After undoing the clasps on her purse, she pulled Tikki out and placed the huge cookie into the Kwami's tiny hands.

"It'll probably be stale," Marinette said, trying not to think about why there were no fresh cookies. It would only run the risk of her bringing evil intentions back into her heart. "I think it's almost three days old now."

"It will still work just fine," Tikki said. She then proceeded to eat the cookie at what almost felt like an intentionally slow rate.

Marinette's thoughts drifted back to the moment she threw the knife. "Did you see the look on Cat Noir's face? Do you think he really forgives me?"

"'Ou def'nly betrayed hi' trust," Tikki said through a mouth full of cookie. She swallowed. "It's hard to tell. Like magic, it often takes ten kindnesses to repair the damage done by a single betrayal. If you're honest with him, maybe it will heal this mess you made between the two of you."

"How—how can I be honest with him? I can't reveal myself to him."

"Be as honest as you can. I know you'll find a way. And most importantly, ask for his forgiveness." Tikki took another enormous bite.

Marinette gave a nervous glance at her watch. It was almost nineteen minutes since she said she would call Cat Noir, but she couldn't call him unless she was transformed. She fidgeted as the moments ticked by. It took Tikki almost five more minutes before she was done eating.

"Are you ready?" Marinette said.

"I think so."

"All right, then. Tikki, _spots on!_ "

In a flash, the magic transformed Marinette into Ladybug once again. She immediately picked up her yo-yo and called Cat Noir.

He didn't answer.

 _Oh, no. What if he's hurt?_

She called again. No answer.

Again.

Again.

Marinette grabbed her hair. The evil selfishness in her heart had hurt Tikki, and it had hurt Cat Noir, too. What if he'd collapsed only a few seconds after they parted? Was there a poor, de-transformed Cat Noir lying on a rooftop somewhere, or curled up behind a dumpster in an alley, too weary and hurt to go on? How would she find him? Would she have to face her mom alone? No, Cat Noir was her partner. She couldn't do it without him.

Once more, she flipped open her yo-yo and called him.

"Sorry I'm late," Cat Noir said. He sounded weary, and his voice lacked its usual sauciness.

"Cat Noir! Thank goodness. I've been calling and calling."

Cat Noir cracked his signature grin. "Don't tell me you're worried about me, Milady. I might start to think that you care about me."

"Of course I care about you, Cat Noir!"

The cheesy grin faded. "You do?"

"Of course I do! You're my partner. My partner who got hurt because of me. I've been worried sick!"

"Well, I've felt better, but I'll claw my way past it."

"How is your Kwami?"

"My Kwami?"

"Yeah? Was your Kwami hurt? I mean, after what happened with your Cataclysm hitting my Lucky Charm…"

"He was a little more tired than usual. A little whinier, too. But I gave him his favorite cheese, and he shut up."

"I just wondered why you took so long."

"I ran into complications—avoiding people and such, you know how that is. But Plagg is fine, thanks for asking."

"Plagg? Is that his name?"

"Yeah. I guess I never mentioned that to you before. Come to think of it, I don't know the name of your Kwami, either."

"Tikki. And I hurt her really badly by abusing my Lucky Charm. After that, I was worried about Plagg, too."

"Well, if you want to talk to him, I can arrange that." The saucy grin returned.

"You know we can't show each other our identities, Cat Noir."

Cat Noir shrugged. "So what's the plan? How are we going to beat this crazy woman?"

"She's not crazy!" Marinette snapped. "She's grieving. That's how Hawk Moth took control of her in the first place."

"Well, she's acting crazy now—you can't argue with that. How do we take her down?"

"I'm not sure. We should track her down again, but it's clear that we can't win this using force. We need to get close to her. One of us can distract her, and the other can get in close enough to snatch the bullet necklace she's got."

"That's enough to go on. I checked the news, and it looks like she's down by the Seine, by the Bridge of Alexandre III."

"We'll need a distraction. Hmm."

"Well, I can be pretty distracting."

"You know? I bet you can be. Can you get your hands on a black hoodie?"

Cat Noir tilted his head. "I'm not sure I like where you're going with this, Milady."

"You probably won't. I'm thinking this—you get a hoodie and use the end of your baton to make it look like you've got a gun. Recompense will run right after you, which will give me the time I need to get in close enough to snatch that necklace from around her neck."

"That sounds like a plan that will get me killed," Cat Noir said.

Marinette placed her hand on her chin, wondering how she could sell him on the idea—and also knowing full well that he had a point. Still, her gut told her that this was the way to move forward. "It won't if you're as good as I think you are—as good as I _know_ you are."

A hint of pink flashed across Cat Noir's cheeks. "Well, there is that. I'm pretty good, after all."

 _I knew that would work on that egomaniac,_ Marinette thought, smiling. "That's for sure. So—can you get what you need?"

"It's getting late, but I'm sure I can find a clothing store on the way that has what I need. They'll probably be happy to help."

"Okay, I hope so. I'll meet you down at the Bridge as soon as possible, okay?"

"At your command, Milady."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Just hurry." With that, she flipped her phone shut and took off at a run for the historical bridge.

* * *

 **Author's note: I hope everyone is enjoying this story as much as I am enjoying writing it. If you have any feedback, I'd love to get a review from you. Thanks and have an awesome day!**


	10. La Bataille Finale

Marinette landed lightly on her feet just a few blocks from the bridge. She ran her eyes over the gorgeous architecture for just a moment, wondering if her mother was hiding behind the grandiose columns. As she walked closer, her trepidation grew. She understood her mother's need for, well, recompense—something to assuage the hurt, some kind of reparation, anything to mitigate the pain that she felt. Marinette felt a fresh wave of guilt. This time, however, it was not over Ladybug's failure to protect Paris, but Marinette's failure to be there for her mother. If she had stayed home from school, she and her mother could have comforted each other, and Hawk Moth might never have had a chance to transform sweet, gentle Sabine into a cold-hearted bloodthirsty murderer.

Of course, as Marinette knew from experience now, it didn't take being Akumatized to be suddenly overwhelmed with the desire for revenge—even cold-blooded murder. As she waited for Cat Noir, she realized just how much a role all of her self-blame had played in her attempt to murder the criminal who shot her father. If she had forgiven herself, maybe she wouldn't have had such a need to make amends for it.

"Ready, Milady?" Cat Noir whispered.

Marinette jumped and wheeled around.

"Second time today." Cat Noir stood there, wearing a loose black hoodie over his suit. "Wow."

"Yeah, well, the whole _people dying_ thing has me on edge."

"Understandable. Hey, listen, Ladybug—I just had an idea on the way here. We've met this woman once or twice. Remember when we hid in that bakery? And we also worked with her daughter, Marinette, when we were fighting the Evillustrator. Why not bring in Marinette now? Maybe she could talk her mom down a little, and we use that as the distraction. I'll go in and destroy the machine guns with Cataclysm, and you can sneak up and get the necklace."

Marinette hesitated. "That's a good idea, Cat Noir, but what if Recompense shoots Marinette?"

"Akumatized or not, there's no way in heck a mother would hurt her own daughter."

"We can't risk it. She could be caught in the crossfire by accident. This isn't like the Evillustrator—that was child's play. Plus, we've seen Akumatized people go after the people they normally love, like when Vanisher went after Chloe."

Cat Noir shook his head. "Mothers have an instinct to protect their children. I know that she won't hurt Marinette."

 _You're probably right, but I can't be in two places,_ Marinette thought. _Not that you know that…but still. This isn't going to work._ It was too bad, really. It might be the fastest way to get to Recompense, but the Akuma could easily escape if she had to run and hide somewhere to transform. The last thing they needed were dozens of copies of this particular villain. "Haven't you ever heard of postpartum insanity, where mothers try to kill their babies? If that can happen without an Akuma…"

"I guess you're right," Cat Noir said. "I definitely don't want Marinette to get hurt. Well, it was a thought. Back to plan A, I guess."

"You mean plan B," Marinette said. "Okay. See that guy over there stepping off the bridge? I want you to go pretend to hold him up."

"You know, as much as I hope this works, I'm almost hoping it doesn't, what with the bullets flying and all."

"Ha, ha. This is serious, Cat Noir."

"I know—I'm the one getting shot at, remember?" Cat Noir flipped up the hood on his sweatshirt. "Believe me, I'm about as serious as I can get. Well, here goes." With that, he charged over to the hapless civilian and demanded his money.

Marinette kept her eyes peeled, watching as the poor sap handed over his wallet to Cat Noir. _This had better work…_

As if on cue, Recompense melted out of the shadows. "Scum!" she shouted.

The man screamed and ran away, leaving Cat Noir alone.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Recompense," Cat Noir said. "Here to stop crime, I suppose?"

"Here to destroy lowlife filth like you!" With that, Recompense charged after Cat Noir, who took off running, leading Recompense back to where Marinette waited.

But Recompense was fast. So fast, that Cat Noir had to use his staff to leap out of the way. He did a flip on his way back to the ground, and the hood slipped off his head. He held his staff out at the ready.

"You?" Recompense's face went purple. "If it weren't for you, Tom's killer would be dead. At least Ladybug had the right idea."

From the shadows, Marinette flung her yo-yo and caught one of Recompense's machine guns and ripped it away, then flung it into the Seine. Recompense, using her second machine gun, fired wildly toward where Marinette still hid.

"Hey!" Cat Noir shouted. "I'm the one who saved Tom's killer! Shouldn't you be serving up that sweet justice to me?" He took off running. Bullets followed his path in a lethal spray. He was barely keeping ahead of them.

Marinette threw her yo-yo again, trying to grab the machine gun, but this time Recompense saw it coming. She dodged out of the way, momentarily ceasing fire. Cat Noir took advantage of the moment and extended his baton to quarter-staff length, then charged her.

"Cat Noir, wait!" Marinette shouted, too late.

The machine gun fired again. Cat Noir went to whirl his baton, but too late. At least one of the bullets caught him mid-stomach. He yelled in pain and collapsed to the ground, clutching at the wound.

Calmly, Recompense walked over to Cat Noir.

Marinette burst out from her hiding place and ran at Recompense from the side. It was no use. Recompense saw her and started shooting again. Ladybug blocked the bullets with her yo-yo.

"Ladybug, Ladybug, fly away home," Recompense shouted. "Your cat has been shot and you're left all alone!"

Marinette suppressed a shudder. _Ladybug, Ladybug_ had always been one of her mother's favorite nursery rhymes. She would say it in a sing-song voice whenever she found a ladybug anywhere. To hear it perverted by the evilness that ran rampant in her was almost more than Marinette could bear.

"You'll never win, Recompense!" Marinette called, catching a blur of motion out of the corner of her eye.

"And why is that?"

Cat Noir's voice rang out. _"Cataclysm!"_

Recompense looked over, but not in time. Cat Noir had pulled himself from the ground and managed to gather himself for one last run. He did an aerial flip over Recompense, brushing his powered hand across the barrel of her machine gun. It disintegrated into ash.

"That's why!" Cat Noir said. He landed on his feet for one moment, but then immediately lost his balance and keeled over. He let out a groan of pain. "Ladybug…"

Marinette didn't have time to panic, or think of anything else. " _Lucky Charm!_ " The swirl of magic flew over her head, and congealed into something that fell into her awaiting hands. It was a large wedding photograph of her parents in a red and black-dotted frame. For an instant, she tried to imagine what she could use this for.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sharp report of a pistol. In horror, she looked up. Another report sounded as Recompense fired a second bullet right into Cat Noir's chest. Marinette couldn't even scream. She bolted to Cat Noir's side and grabbed him by the shoulders. He coughed up blood as his face grew more and more pale.

"Cat Noir?" Marinette couldn't believe it. Not Cat Noir. Not him.

Cat Noir reached up and put his hand on her face. "Ladybug, I…"

His arm went slack and his chest grew still. His eyes stared off into nothingness, still and glassy. Recompense laughed.

Anger surged through Marinette, following after the grief like a river of magma. But it was all suddenly extinguished by a wave of sympathy, a wave of understanding. She knew what she had to do. She stood up and faced Recompense.

"You're a murderer. What would Thomas think of you now?" Marinette held up the wedding photograph. "I know you're hurting. I know the love of your life was killed. I know how much it hurts—believe me, you can't possibly imagine how much I understand! But is this what Thomas would have wanted? Would he want you to kill people? Think of how kind, and how gentle he was. And think of your daughter. Think of Marinette! Would she want you to kill Cat Noir? Would she want you to be this way? What would she say if she could see you like this? What would Tom say? What would they say about what you've become?"

Recompense stood still, her mouth open. Slowly, she lowered the pistol.

"This isn't you," Marinette continued. "You still have Marinette. Marinette loves you, and she needs you."

Recompense let out a single sob, then put her hand over her face. She was still for just one more moment, and then she looked up. The shadow around her eyes was darker than ever. "Hawk Moth is right! It doesn't matter what Tom wanted. It's still _your_ negligence that let him die!" She raised her pistol and fired.

Instinctively, Marinette held up the picture. The bullet bounced off the glass. _Bulletproof glass? Wow…it's like the magic knew…_

And once again, Marinette knew what to do, without even thinking about it. Using the picture as a shield, she ran circles around her mother until the pistol's ammunition was spent. Then, Marinette whirled her yo-yo around Recompense, tying the villain's arms to her sides. With a well placed kick, Marinette knocked Recompense to the ground, snatching the bullet casing necklace and ripping it off as she did. She threw it to the ground, and brought her heel down on it in a furious stomp. It broke open and a little black butterfly flew out.

Marinette gave her yo-yo a tug, and it magically released her mother almost instantaneously. She drew a line across the yo-yo with her finger, and it popped open. "No more evil doing for you, little Akuma." She spun the yo-yo and then threw it after the fluttering form. "I'm freeing you of evil!" The yo-yo caught the butterfly, and moments later, Marinette was releasing the milk-white butterfly back into the early night sky. She couldn't bring herself to bid farewell to the little thing, though. Her heart was too heavy with fear and with doubt.

 _Will this really work?_

She grabbed the picture frame and threw it into the air high above her. " _Miraculous Ladybug!"_

Magic exploded from the picture frame. The sparkling stream swirled around Cat Noir, who sat up, gasping in shock. The magic flew away to other parts of the city, where Marinette knew all of the damage her mother had caused was being undone.

Marinette ran to Cat Noir's side and threw her arms around him. "Cat Noir, I thought I'd lost you!" Without thinking, she planted quick kiss on his cheek. His face turned brilliant red.

"What? Did I…you know, bite it?"

Marinette nodded. "But you're back." The sudden sound of wild sobs interrupted Marinette's joy at Cat Noir being alive. She whirled around and saw her mother on the ground, sobbing hysterically. Immediately, Marinette ditched Cat Noir and ran to her mother's side. "Sabine?"

"I'm a murderer!" Sabine sobbed.

"Sabine, listen to me. There's nothing to fear. The magic has brought everyone back."

"I'll still go to jail!"

"There isn't any court precedence of Akumatized people being held accountable. I'll talk to the police for you though, just in case. Will that make you feel better?"

Sabine nodded, wiping her eyes as her sobbing quieted. Out of nowhere, her phone started ringing. Surprised, she picked it up and looked at it. "It's…it's the hospital." She answered it. "Hello?"

Marinette was on tenterhooks while she waited. Would it be good or bad news?

"That's amazing!" Sabine cried. "Yes, I'll be there soon!" She hung up the phone and gave Marinette a huge hug. "Oh, thank you, Ladybug…thank you! Your magic saved my husband! You're a miracle, the miracle that we needed. I'm sorry for everything I said."

Marinette's heart almost exploded with joy. "You are so forgiven. Now, you better go to the hospital."

Nodding, Sabine jumped up and ran off.

Grinning from ear to ear, Marinette turned back to Cat Noir. "Glad you made it, partner."

"Yeah, me too! So, about that whole—"

Ladybug's earring beeped. "Oh, no. I've got to go. I have to get to the courthouse and explain before I de-transform. See you around, Cat Noir!" She swung her yo-yo and soared up to the nearest rooftop.

"Wait! What about our talk?" Cat Noir called.

"Tonight at midnight!" Marinette shouted back. "We'll meet here!"

Then, heart full of joy and relief, Marinette made her way to the courthouse. As soon as she was done, she would go the hospital.

She would see her father.

It was a _miracle._


	11. Conséquences

Marinette burst through the doors of the hospital, bumping past several people and tripping over the foot of someone's wheelchair to make it to the front desk. She slammed her hands down on the counter.

"Tom…Dupain," she panted.

The receptionist, who was on the phone, gave Marinette an annoyed look. Holding up her finger, the receptionist signaled for Marinette to wait in a way distinctly reminiscent of Chloe.

Marinette tapped her foot. She hadn't dashed to the police station, given them a hurried explanation just in time to sneak away so she could de-transform without being seen, then run on foot in her unenhanced form all the way to the hospital—just so that a receptionist could be rude to her. After what seemed like an interminable amount of time, the receptionist slowly hung up the phone.

"May I help you, mademoiselle?"

"I am here to see Tom Dupain. He's being discharged."

The receptionist went about looking up the information painfully slowly. Finally, she looked up from her computer. "Fourth floor, trauma ward, room 19. The computer says he hasn't left yet."

"Thank you!" Marinette squealed, and took off at a gallop for the elevators. Waiting for the elevator took an eternity. The elevator ride took an eternity. Everything took an eternity. Finally, she burst into the trauma ward, and was rewarded with the sight of her father signing paperwork while her mother stood next to him.

"Marinette!" Tom called, looking up with a big smile.

"Oh, Papa!" Marinette flew over to him and put her arms around him. "Oh, Papa. I love you so much!"

"I love you too, sweetheart. Now give me a minute to finish this, and we'll all be on our way."

"I see you got the message I left," Sabine said, embracing Marinette. "How did you get here so fast?"

"Um…well…I…hey, you look exhausted, Mama. What's going on?"

"Oh…well…I…say, what do you think about ordering pizza when we get home?"

"Sounds great!" Marinette chimed. _Dodged that one._

Soon, they were on their way from the hospital, hand in hand, laughing like they had never laughed before, all for the joy of being reunited. The trip home seemed to take no time at all, and even the pizza delivery seemed to take a shorter amount of time than usual.

"Ah, American junk food, prepared right here in France," Tom said, taking a bite of pizza.

"It's fun once in a while, I think," Sabine said.

"Yeah, it's good!" Marinette added.

By the time they had finished eating, chatting, and playing a couple rounds of Mecha Strike III, it was nearly eleven o'clock. Marinette declared that she was exhausted and ready for bed, and her parents agreed. All of them traipsed to their rooms, and in a few short moments, Marinette was alone in her room, changing into her pajamas.

"Didn't you say you were meeting Cat Noir in an hour?" Tikki said, crawling out of Marinette's purse.

Marinette groaned. "I forgot. Ugh. He's the last person I want to talk to right now."

"I know, but you do owe him an explanation. He's counting on you."

"You're right. I guess I owe you an explanation too, Tikki."

"No, I think we covered all the bases earlier." Tikki flashed an encouraging smile. "I'm already feeling better—I think that Lucky Charm and Miraculous Ladybug might have each counted for a good use of magic. Only eight left, now."

"No…I mean…I realized something today that I never knew before. There's darkness inside of me, Tikki. I think there's a little of it in everyone, or Hawk Moth wouldn't be able to do what he does. I've just been lucky enough to avoid that darkness when Hawk Moth isn't busy. If he hadn't already had my mom in his clutches, he could have akumatized _me,_ and then where would we be?"

"Mmm. And you were lucky tonight, too. Of course, luck is your power, so that makes sense. Most of the time, using a Miraculous for evil augments that darkness that lurks inside everyone. Even if Hawk Moth was the nicest person in the world before he started using his Miraculous for evil, by now he's more cold and stonehearted than your mother became—and he's probably like that all the time, at least on the inside. If you hadn't immediately felt remorse when you saw Cat Noir get hurt, the likelihood of that darkness building in you was very high."

"Wow. I'm so glad Cat Noir was there. I can always count on him, you know? No matter how annoying he can be, I'm glad that he's my partner, and not anyone else."

"That's a good attitude to have, Marinette."

Marinette beamed for a moment, then cupped her hands over her cheeks in horror. "Oh, no! I forgot to feed you, Tikki!" She hurried over to the box of cookies she had stashed under her bed and handed one to Tikki. "Here's a sweet cookie for the sweetest Kwami in the universe!"

"Aww, thanks!" Tikki hungrily set in on the cookie, eating faster than Marinette had ever seen. "More, please?"

Marinette grinned. "Tikki, you can have the whole box!"

* * *

Adrien paced back and forth near the Bridge of Alexandre III. What if Ladybug wasn't coming? It was already a quarter past midnight.

Soft, light footsteps approached. "Sorry I'm late, Cat Noir."

Adrien wheeled around. There she was—the most beautiful person in the world. And, as he had learned today, somebody who had the capacity to be the most terrifying person in the world. "That's okay. Hey, why don't we go sit on that bench over there?"

Ladybug nodded. The two of them walked over to the bench and sat down.

"So…what's going on with you, Ladybug?" Adrien said. "I've never seen you like…well, I've never seen you so angry. Why did you want to murder that guy?"

"It's hard to explain," Ladybug said. "But…well…my father was shot, too. A long time ago. And it hurt like nothing I've ever felt before. You can't possibly imagine what it's like to lose a parent."

"You'd be surprised. So when you saw the man who shot Tom…"

"I felt that by killing him, I could avenge my own father. All those dark feelings came back. I was completely overwhelmed with rage. And I just—I just snapped. I abused Lucky Charm by trying to find vengeance. I was no better than Recompense. If it hadn't been for you, then I'd be a murderer, too. Plus, using the Miraculous for evil augments any darkness already inside you." Ladybug turned and faced Adrien, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have felt the regret I needed to counteract that. You saved me, Cat Noir. From myself. You're the best partner I could ever ask for."

Adrien felt his face get hot. "Not as great a partner as you, Ladybug."

"I can't believe you forgive me—just like that."

"Believe it. Nothing could keep me mad at you for long, Milady." He reached up and took Ladybug's hand and gave it a quick kiss.

Ladybug blinked, and a hint of pink flashed across her cheeks. Then she rolled her eyes and snatched away her hand. "So…what do you say we go and do a quick sweep to look out for crime? I told the chief of police that we'd be interested in working with them."

Adrien thought of how he needed to slip his ring back into his father's desk before it was too late. "Any other night, I'd say yes, Milady. But I have things I need to take care of. What do you say that we meet by the Eiffel Tower tomorrow, same time, and get a start at things then?"

Ladybug smiled. "Great idea. Besides, I'm exhausted after today."

"Yeah, me too."

"Cat Noir?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Adrien stood up from the bench and bowed with a flourish. "Anything for you."

"Oh, I'm sure you say that to all the girls," Ladybug said, grinning.

"Only the ones I care about."

Ladybug drew her lip into her mouth. "So. Um. Guess I'll be going now."

"Uh, yeah. Me too."

As he walked away, Adrien mentally slapped himself. He'd gone overboard again—his flirting always seemed to aggravate her more than anything else, or otherwise just make her feel awkward. But one of these days—one of these days, he was going to tell her how he felt about her, no matter the consequences. Even if she just wanted to be friends with him.

He listened carefully as she walked the other direction before swinging away into the night. Something about those footsteps…why did they sound so much like Sabine Dupain-Cheng's? They were about the same build, but Adrien, having been coached on walking for modeling, knew that walking styles were typically subconsciously inherited from a parent or major role model.

Adrien stopped short. Ladybug was the same build and walked the same way as Sabine did. And now that he thought about it, there was somebody else he knew with those feather-light footsteps, even if those footsteps were typically running into something or tripping.

 _No. There's no way. Not her._

Marinette's father had been shot. Ladybug was determined to kill the man who shot Marinette's father.

 _No, Ladybug said it just reminded her too much. She wouldn't lie about something like that._

 _Would she?_

If Adrien was honest with himself, it was along the lines of a half-truth he would tell to keep himself out of trouble, too. It seemed a little too convenient. He started thinking back to all of his interactions with Ladybug. Had he ever seen Marinette and Ladybug in the same place at the same time? This wasn't like Chloe—he had forgotten that he had actually seen Ladybug catch Chloe. But he was almost positive that he'd never seen Ladybug and Marinette together.

 _Ladybug told me to work with Marinette. They can't be the same._

 _Yeah, but you've pulled stuff like that, too—being both Adrien and Cat Noir by switching back and forth constantly._

And hadn't he seen Marinette coming around the corner at school right after Ladybug had disappeared from the school?

 _But there's no way. Marinette's too shy and clumsy to be Ladybug._

 _And you're too shy and proper to be Cat Noir._

Adrien shook his head. It was way too late to be thinking about this. He had to get home and replace his Miraculous in his father's desk drawer before it was too late, then get some much needed rest. After all, in the last 72 hours, he had been bitten by an enormous spider, thrown to the ground by a Cataclysm/Lucky Charm explosion, clipped by a machine gun, and shot completely dead. Even with Miraculous Ladybug saving him, he was _tired._

But first thing in the morning, he would revisit this theory. He'd pay a little more attention to Marinette at school tomorrow, to see if anything else would match up with his suspicions.

The thought put a little more energy into his stride as he leapt across the rooftops of Paris.

* * *

Nooroo shuddered. The cold got worse and worse every time. The pain he'd learned to live with was just a part of life now. But the cold was like ice creeping into his heart, with a fresh icicle stabbing him after every Akuma. He looked up at his master, who paced the room.

"It's four in the morning, Master," Nooroo said. "Shouldn't we be going to sleep?"

"You barely touched the grapes I brought you. Are you refusing to eat in hopes that you won't be obliged to obey my command any longer?"

"N-no, Master. I just—I'm so cold…"

"I don't care. Eat."

Shivering, Nooroo forced himself to eat another one of the grapes. They were delicious, but Nooroo found no pleasure in eating when he knew his strength would just be used to wreak evil again. And such evil. This woman, this "Recompense," had been worse than any of the others. The path his master was taking was becoming darker and darker by the day. He examined the lines of his master's face, the deep lines along the brow, the frown twisting the mouth. "Master, you seem upset about something—more than usual."

His master walked over to the desk that stood in the center of the room. He pulled out a key and opened the right top drawer. He pulled something out and held it up. "Do you know what this is, Nooroo?"

Nooroo's heart almost stopped when he saw it. It was the Cat Miraculous! But Plagg was clearly not inside of it. No matter what, his master could not be allowed to have both Miraculous and Kwami together.

"Ah, you seem to recognize it."

"No, Master. At first I thought it might be the Cat Miraculous, but it cannot possibly be."

"Oh, and why is that?"

"Unowned, the ring would be black—the way it appears when on Cat Noir's finger."

"Ah, but this _is_ owned. I took this from my son. At first, I refused to believe my son could be Cat Noir. But while the ring remained in my desk, Cat Noir did not appear to aid Ladybug. Instead, my son sacrificed himself." Gabriel Agreste glowered at Nooroo. "You're not eating."

Nooroo choked down another grape. "Maybe your son has a sense of nobility."

"I thought so too. But you see, tonight, while that wretched woman was fighting our adversaries, the ring was gone from my desk. And it was returned shortly thereafter. I never unlocked the desk. It would take assistance from a Kwami to obtain it."

"I swear it wasn't me, Master."

"I'm not accusing you of anything except for _not eating."_

Nooroo hurriedly stuffed another grape in his mouth.

"This makes me certain that Adrien is Cat Noir. It all fits."

"Master, if not for Ladybug's victory, your son would be dead! You must stop this fight!"

Gabriel let out a snarl. "You would like that, wouldn't you, you lazy insect!"

"No, that's not what I mean! You have to think about your son! You love him! I've seen it!"

"Of course I love him. But it doesn't matter what happens—not once I have the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous in my hands. It's a risk I shall have to take."

Open mouthed, Nooroo stared at his master. "But…"

"Eat."

Shivering harder than ever, Nooroo picked up his last grape.

 **To be continued….**

 **(Maybe. If I find time. I probably won't for a while...so follow me to be sure that you get notified when I finally get around to the sequel, "Metamorphosis." Thanks for reading, and if you enjoyed it, let me know in the reviews!)**

 **P.S. I have an ORIGINAL NOVEL published now. Check out my profile bio if you want to learn more. (Please? LOL)**


	12. The Sequel is Here!

Hey everyone! I just wanted you all to know that the sequel, Metamorphosis, is now posted. Go to my profile to find it!


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